


A Hundred Highways

by Frida_the_Saintly



Category: CyberSix
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama & Romance, Existential Dread, F/F, F/M, Genderfluid Character, Nazis, Post-Canon, Road Trips, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2018-10-14 09:55:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10534089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frida_the_Saintly/pseuds/Frida_the_Saintly
Summary: “I hope you find someone less complicated: human, just one gender, and not involved with Nazi scientists,” Adrian commented dryly. “I told you that Cybersix woman was dangerous business.”“None of those had been deal breakers so far,” Lucas replied.“Just impending death, I suppose,” Adrian frowned.Cybersix survives the events of the final episode but without a source of Sustenance. She and Lucas are forced to take a road trip to the bleak Patagonian ice fields where her former master's Fortress lies. Can the master's creation dismantle the master's house? Or will their personal demons consume them first?





	1. Come On Back This Way

 

**City of Meridiana - 5 days after the explosion**

Lucas stared at at the word document on his computer, trying to will himself to focus on the article he was supposed to finish. Despite the compelling topic, specifically what the hell was that giant extraterrestrial squid thing that exploded over Meridiana five days ago, he still couldn’t come to terms that she was gone.

Every day, he had scoured the city looking for Cybersix, hoping that she survived the blast. He should’ve left the city like more sensible people have done, but he couldn’t leave without knowing. He dreaded finding evidence that proved otherwise, but it was better than the agony of purgatory.

He sighed and rubbed his sore eyes. He needed to finish this article this afternoon. He certainly couldn’t rely on income from his teaching position with classes cancelled indefinitely.

At least he could get paid for trying to make sense of what the hell happened.

But where do you even begin?

Five days ago, a large landmass was spotted floating towards Meridiana. It overturned large commercial container ships and tidal waves wrecked havoc on the ports. Before long, pictures started to surface: the landmass had tentacles. When the landmass made landfall, it crushed everything beneath its massive weight and its tentacles made short work of everything else. Its initial trajectory seemed to be headed for central Meridiana, but somehow it changed course and went for the abandoned lighthouse park to the east, where it detonated. Twenty-three persons were reported dead and another sixty-five were still unaccounted for. The missing included Adrian Seidelman, his colleague, which Lucas now knew was really Cybersix.

It was all true. But how do you make it sound true for the rest of the world?

International news media were skeptical of the story and instead explained it away as a chemical explosion. The locals knew that it was real and saw it happen, even if divers and the city clean up crew couldn’t find physical evidence of the squid. The national government refused to validate the story, attributing it to either mass hysteria or an well-orchestrated hoax by the city government in order to siphon emergency funds from the national budget. Then the story got lost amidst the Latin American news cycle, which was all too eventful as usual.

He hammered out the last couple of lines, proposing to call the squid the Isle of Doom. Would an international audience take it seriously? He shrugged. That’s what everyone was already calling it.

He printed the article and looked for his keys. His flat was still a mess and he hadn’t cleaned up since after the events of the Isle of Doom. Everything was left untouched, partly because the past few days were exhausting, and partly because he wanted to relive that final goodbye with Cybersix. They shared their one and only kiss, right in here in this flat. He could still feel her lips on his, but he had an irrational fear that if he didn’t leave things exactly the way they were, that bittersweet memory would fade.

Lucas went through his pockets. First, his coat pocket and next, the pockets in his dirty laundry. Not there. He then went to the kitchen looked through his mini chemistry lab. Scrawled notes littered the countertop, and unwashed pyrex beakers were growing mold. He finally found the keys there.

Before he dashed out of his apartment, he looked out the window. Despite his better judgment, he still he held out the hope that Cybersix would walk through that window any minute now.

He sighed. That’s what you get for pining after a superhero.

* * *

Lucas walked to the publication office, picking up the pace since it was closing in fifteen minutes. At least he still had freelance writing to rely on. He wished that he wrote on subjects more respectable than the science-conspiracy fare, but he couldn’t help that Meridiana was full of weird shit.

He travelled through the parts of the city that were still left relatively intact. The air was dusty with the simultaneous reconstruction projects taking place, and the streets were busy with locals continuing to clean up.

Once he dropped off the article, Cybersix and Adrian were back on his mind. He knew that they were the same person, but they were two important people in his life, and that made it doubly harder to move on. Evening fell and cloaked the city into darkness, and he had to keep himself from instinctively looking for her in the shadows and on the rooftops. The night was quiet and he didn’t know where else to go, so he settled for the cafe he frequented with Adrian despite the memories that lingered there. 

The waitress came by and placed an arm around his shoulder. “Welcome back, big guy. Want me to get you something?”

He was tempted to smother his feelings with an extra large pizza but decided against it. He already ordered that yesterday. “Just coffee. Oh yeah, has the water situation improved?”

She shrugged. “Nah, it’s still the same as the rest of Meridiana. Fishy, squidy—whatever. Can’t even make yerba mate with it. We’ve been using bottled water for everything.” She pointed her thumb back at the empty containers stacked in the corner, piled high up to the ceiling.

Lucas whistled. “That looks expensive.”

“Could be worse. At least this brand is affordable even if it’s tacky as hell.” She showed him one of the bottles. The packaging read _Truly European_ in bold capital letters with blue snow-capped mountains behind it, presumably the representing the Alps.

He chucked. “That is too aspirational, even for us.”

“Right? By the way, will your handsome friend be joining you later?”

His heart sunk.

The waitress paused and straightened up. “I’ll get your coffee.”

Lucas became too aware of the empty chair in front of him, and the dark thoughts that threatened to break through the silence. He fingered Adrian’s round eyeglasses—the only remaining proof of his friend. It was only now that he noticed that the glasses had no magnification; they were pure costume.

The waitress gave him his coffee and didn’t say a word. He was silently grateful.

As he sipped his coffee, he thought about how stupid he was. He spent nearly everyday with either Adrian or Cybersix, and he didn’t figure out that they were the same person. Come to think of it, when Adrian was new to the school, Lucas had wondered if he was transgendered or queer, especially since he was noticeably particular about bathroom privacy. But Lucas didn’t bring it up since he didn’t want to alienate a new teacher, and he forgot about it as their friendship developed.

The waitress poured him a refill. Lucas avoided eye contact and pulled out his notebook to look busy. He flipped through his notes. Hell, even his research ideas were all related to Cybersix and whatever monster of the week threatened the city. He also tried to study _her_ , since no human being could drink that green Sustenance stuff. It was so potent that a few drops burned right through his wooden floors. She hid the fact that she drank it, but he knew. The monsters also carried it around them in vials, and he had collected and studied a few samples without her knowledge. He figured out that it was a biofluid used for nutrient transport, but what nutrients stayed intact in that acidity was beyond him.

He knew she wasn’t human, but he was in love with her anyway. But she was so otherworldly and mysterious that he couldn’t make a move on her. It was as absurd as making a move on the moon. She was a caped femme fatale who jumped through his window whenever she pleased, and as long as she sought his company, he didn’t think too hard about things.

And now she was gone.

Lucas gathered his things and left a large tip. Back on the street, he was supposed to be headed home when he caught himself walking towards Adrian’s old flat. He stopped himself. He had already checked Adrian’s flat and the explosion site this morning, and he knew he’d find nothing there.

But what about this time?

He sighed; it’s not like he had anything else going on. Lucas continued towards Adrian’s flat and turned a corner. There it was.

The light was on.

His heart pounded with hope, and it took all of his energy to keep himself from racing up the stairs. With every step, he tried to keep it cool and manage his expectations. It could just be the landlady, or heavens forbid a new tenant.

The door was slightly ajar.

“Adrian?” Lucas called out.

There was no response. Lucas pushed the door open and it gave a hesitant creak.

The light was on, but no one was inside. The bed was left unmade and the room had a combination of Adrian’s and Cybersix’s scent: the musk of second hand books, the smell of lycra damp from sweat and rain. English and Spanish-language books lined the shelves in disarray: novels, poetry, philosophy and plays.

There were only bags of tea in the cupboards and the kitchenette looked neglected. Unmarked school papers remained on the desk. Lucas would have thought that the scene indicated a life interrupted, but he knew better. He went through the drawers and they were empty of clothes and cash, and a suitcase was nowhere to be found. And there was a receipt for a one-way bus ride out the city.

She was alive.

* * *

Back in his flat, Lucas haphazardly threw clothes into his suitcase, wishing that he had more clean laundry. He had no idea where she was going, but he was prepared to drive all over the Americas to find her. He packed his clothes, passport and identification papers, and cash. Lucas was about to pick up the vials of Sustenance he had hidden in the fridge when he realized that they were missing.

Alarmed, he checked the window. There were fresh shoeprints: Adrian’s.

Lucas cursed. Cybersix came by and didn’t even leave him a note.

He shoved his suitcase into the back of his Fiat and drove to the bus station like a madman. Driving like an asshole, he made it in record time, but reached a snaking line of cars waiting to enter the parking lot. Lucas groaned, did a U-turn amidst screeching tires and angry honks, parked on the sidewalk, jumped out of his car and raced to the bus station. Lucas pushed through the double doors and looked at the sea of humanity, undaunted by the scale.

Blood pounded in his ears but he wasn’t out of breath. All those nights of trying to catch up to her must’ve helped his cardio after all. He pushed through the crowd, looking for a familiar face. What was he even looking for? Was she going to be Adrian, or did she have another disguise? Was she dressed like a man or a woman?

In the distance, he saw dark haired man with a slight frame, wearing a white oxford shirt.

“Adrian!” Lucas yelled, stumbling forward and grabbed a shoulder. The man turned around—an Asian man with furrowed brows. Lucas mouthed an apology as he turned around and looked for his next target.

This went on for the next twenty minutes. Women and men, he interrupted nearly everyone who was slender and had short black hair. Someone alerted the station’s security guards, pointing to him.

Lucas evaded them by escaping through an emergency exit, and then saw a figure board a bus.

The real Adrian.

Lucas shouted Adrian’s name, but Adrian didn’t turn around. The bus doors closed and left the station. He rushed back into the station, and looked frantically at the signs. Adrian’s bus was headed south, towards Patagonia. He dashed back into his car, mumbling apologies as he waved a traffic cop out of the way and sped towards the highway. He zigzagged in and out of lanes, squeezed past much larger cars, and sped past red lights, and did not release gas pedal until the bus was within his sights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after [Come On Back This Way by Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders](https://youtu.be/Wnc2UnHtboU). I like its seedy Nick Cave neo-noir vibes. 
> 
> If you're looking for closure to the 1999 animated series, welcome to the club. As an aging millennial with serious nostalgia feels, I'll do my best to wrap things up since RIP Carlos Trillo and Carlos Meglia and any hope of a 2nd season.
> 
> I went on a 5+ year hiatus from creative writing and fandom in general because of hella life events*, but I look forward to writing regularly again because I miss the stuff. Feel free to comment away.
> 
> *(career change, depression, moving multiple times including to a questionable third world country)


	2. More News from Nowhere

 

There was a race called the Cybers. And they ruined everything.

Von Reichter was once a young Schutzstaffel medical officer. He was exposed to an overwhelming variety of inferior peoples—the degenerates, the lesser races, and the feeble-minded—and all of them did not meet the standards of the Third Reich. So he thought, what if he could design a superior race that did?

Over time, he rose up the ranks and was stationed in Auschwitz, leading experiments on the lesser races. He became busy, and headed many of the special projects that came from none other but the Führer himself, taking special interest in fertility experiments and muscle transplant operations. Even though he had little time to himself,he never forgot about his dream of a superior race.

But opportunity came after the fall of the Third Reich. Like his peers, he had to flee Germany and take on a new name. He took notes on this superior race while he sought refuge in distant lands: on the Great Steppes, in the Amazon, and south towards the end of the world.

Von Reichter finally decided to settle down in Patagonia. He considered a remote location in the tundra. It was private, guarded by the claw-like glaciers that towered over the landscape. He could live off-grid since it had a waterfall that could be harnessed for hydroelectricity. When thunder streaked across the the violet skies, he took it as a sign that it was meant to be.

He hired cheap labourers to erect a stone fortress six stories high. It was a multi-story laboratory complete with holding cells and observation rooms, and a maze-like in design to prevent escape. The construction of his own personal quarters were almost an afterthought.

When the Fortress was completed, the labourers became his first subjects. 

Over time, his collection of specimens grew: insects, mammals, aquatic creatures, and humans of multiple races. His techniques in genetic engineering became more sophisticated, and he tested how his own genes combined with others. His experiments resulted in numerous unviable half-breeds, and some viable but disfigured and of meagre intelligence. He could build them bone-like structures but not bone marrow. So despite his creations taking many forms, they were all dependent on him for their Sustenance liquid as nothing else ran in their veins. That was the only limitation of his science, but it was also the perfect form of control.

His superior race eluded him until a tiny fetus in a tank grew to an infant child that was human in appearance. Before he could conduct a physical examination, it opened its dark eyes and met his gaze steadily.

It was the first Cyber. He made another 4999.

The Cyber children took after his dark hair, dark eyes, and intelligence. They also possessed super strength and agility from their non-human genetic donors. At the age of four, they leap off balconies and ran up walls like little acrobats. At seven, they could lift boulders with ease. Unlike Von Reichter’s other creations, they could pass as human, which meant that they had uses in the outside world. They could even replace the humans altogether. Their potential was limitless so long as he could produce enough Sustenance to feed them all.

But things changed when the Cybers reached puberty. They began to ask questions. They asked about the world that lay beyond The Fortress. They asked why they were made to endure physical tests and sleep in cold chambers. They asked about what made them different from the other creatures and humans, and set some captives free from the dungeons. 

When Von Reichter punished them and took away their privileges, they became angrier and more unruly. The flicker of rebellion grew into an inferno—and the creator and his creations were at war. The final straw was when they tried to kill him in his sleep.

With great regret, he exterminated them. The surroundings of the Fortress would’ve been strewn with bodies if they died like humans, but instead they disintegrated and left behind ashes. 

But one Cyber escaped. And her death was long overdue.

* * *

“What do you mean by you’re _unsure_?” Jose stared the Techno down, despite the latter still being taller than him. 

A bead of sweat snaked down Miguel’s undercut. “She is probably dead: her clothes were burnt and found onsite, the panther was captured while wandering alone, and she hasn’t visited that blond human of hers. But we cannot confirm that the Cyber is deceased until staff have analyzed samples from the explosion site.”

Jose’s jaw clenched. “If she is still alive, we’re giving her a head start. Tell them to hurry the fuck up!”

“Yes boss.” Miguel lowered his head and shuffled out of the study.

Jose pulled his hair in frustration, and turned to face the window that overlooked the barren alpine tundra that spread before the Fortress. He thought it would’ve been liberating to think that all of it, all of what was Von Reichter’s was his now. But his victory still hadn’t quite sunk in.

Von Reichter’s death left a power vacuum. Jose preferred temperate Meridiana to the chilly Fortress, but everything was a mess and only Jose could fix it. The Sustenance storage facilities in Meridiana were destroyed, so all their survivors had to relocate back to The Fortress except for a small crew tasked with making sure Cybersix was dead.

He hated being uncertain of her death, it was as if a guillotine’s blade hung over his head. Jose jumped at shadows, thinking that he just saw her cape. He had recurring nightmares of her entering his bedroom and slitting his throat while he slumbered. He woke up choking each morning, filled with dread and anger, and knew that he wouldn’t feel peace until the bitch was finally dead.

He walked barefoot from the carpeted study towards the master bathroom. He had grown six inches in less than a week, so none of his shoes fit. He was still stuck out here so shopping had to wait.

Jose wrinkled his nose once he was in the bathroom. The foul smell emanated from the growth hormone solution in the bathtub. The scent invited comparisons to sulfur crossed with fermenting yeast. He had ordered the staff to light the room with scented candles but no amount of artificial lavender could smother the overwhelming stench.

He removed his clothes and took a deep breath as he lowered himself into the bathtub, the tepid bath water offering only a small comfort against the cold. Jose had been doing the growth treatments daily ever since he arrived in The Fortress, and it took him the second day to finally suppress his gag reflex. He had to remain in the tub fully submerged and breathe out of a straw for three hours a day in order to undo the curse Father placed on him.

It was cruel. All of other Father’s creations aged normally, but he made Jose’s body stuck at a nine-year old’s when he was chronologically closer to nineteen. Von Reichter slowed down aging on himself when he was an adult, so that didn’t count. No, Jose was the only one who was forced to be a child forever, because of Father’s fear of puberty with what happened with the Cybers. The goddamn Cybers ruined his life from day one.

Jose laid down in the tub, his thoughts racing. There were too many things to do. He needed to make sure that The Fortress’s processes were running smoothly before he could think of returning to Meridiana, but he now had other ways of ensuring his influence in the city.

Von Reichter was an ambitious scientist, but he did not possess the drive to run an empire. For all of his talk of taking over the world and carrying on the work of the late Führer, he remained in his laboratories, leaving the dirty work of acquiring a shitload of money to run the show to Jose. Back then, they only had control over the Fortress and of the some small towns nearby. When Jose established their presence in a big coastal city like Meridiana, that was when Father started taking the idea of expansion seriously, but rejected Jose’s suggestion of making it their base of operations.

He and Father had their disagreements. Von Reichter liked the isolation of the tundra, while Jose thought it made no logistical sense to start from the end of the world. Father pushed for a physical takeover of new territory, while Jose grew to prefer more covert means of influence. Like, designing a mind-control monster wasn’t necessary to handle the port authorities if you could pay them off with cash instead. Also, it helped to provide them with free superhuman body guards—who’d turn on them if they were to renege on the agreement.

Jose didn’t want humans to turn into mind-wiped brutes that he’d have to micro-manage—he wanted humans to be dependent on him and use their ingenuity for his own ends. Now, Meridiana’s port authorities could campaign for higher office all thanks to him, and they found all sorts of creative ways to cover up the biohazard goods that flowed into Meridiana.

It was easier for Jose to push his new project for world domination without Von Reichter’s interference, and he’d no longer need to conduct his own experiments in secret. It worked out pretty well considering that he did kinda kill Father.

Just before Jose escaped Meridiana, he had redirected the explodey monster to explode back at their Merdiana headquarters instead of the city center, taking Von Reichter with it. Which meant that he _did_ save Meridiana. He had spent all this time cultivating their operations in Meridiana, and he wasn’t going to let Father just blow it all up.

Jose sighed through his breathing straw. He had spent his life chasing after Father’s approval, and turned out it was Father who was holding him back. His hand unconsciously moved to the silver vial that hung on his neck, which now housed Von Reichter’s ashes. His chest felt heavy with the loss, but at the same time, he was finally free.

A knock came from the door, and Miguel walked right in.

Jose choked on the growth hormone in surprise. “Idiot! Can’t you see I’m busy here!?”

“Boss, it’s about the Cyber,” Miguel said.

“She’s dead?” Jose sat up.

“We’re not sure. But Meridiana staff say that the blond human was seen driving out of the city.”

Jose felt a pit in his stomach, and the old dread crept back.

“The bitch is still alive,” he snarled. “Follow him and kill them both.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after [More News From Nowhere by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds](https://youtu.be/8MajmI5j7Bs). I like its seedy actual Nick Cave neo-noir vibes. 
> 
> Sorry for the late update--life is pretty good with its small emergencies. In terms of what canon I'm working with, I guess it's a combination of the comic, TV show, and adding whatever seems cool. I really appreciate the comments, there's no motivation like knowing that other people are actually reading this. I don't really know any Cybersix fans IRL so I feel like I'm kind of just writing my feels into the void. Plz talk fandom with me. I'll try to update at least once a month from now on :)


	3. You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side

****Lucas was now past the city limits. A treacherous mountain road lay ahead but he didn’t care. The highway was poorly lit, and the city lights behind him just blocked out the stars. He knew it was dumb to be speeding, but he didn’t let up and the Fiat reached its unimpressive top speed. Thankfully, the bus slowed down when it made turns on curves, and he miraculously managed to overtake it. He honked and waved at the bus driver’s attention, but the bus driver ignored him. This left him no choice but to speed ahead and block the bus, which is what he did.

The bus came to screeching stop.

“What the hell?!” the bus driver pounded on his horn.

Lucas got out of the car and approached the bus, his hands spread wide apologetically. “Sorry but I need to speak to one of your passengers.”

“No! Stay right there!” the driver barked. Lucas couldn’t blame the driver, a lot of armed robberies had taken place on this highway.

The passengers inside began to stand up, tiptoeing to watch the scene unfolding. As they chattered among themselves, an androgynous figure made its way down the aisle and to the door.

“… Lucas?” her eyes widened as she stepped out of the bus.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw her. Cybersix looked the way she usually did as Adrian: messy pompadour, white shirt, suspenders—the only thing missing was the eyeglasses. But Lucas could only think of her as Cybersix.

She furrowed her brows. “What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you. I thought you were dead.”

She didn’t step forward.

“We need to talk.”

“Sorry, I can’t,” her voice cracked.

He felt his frustration rise. “You can’t keep leaving without an explanation.”

There was an audible groan from the bus driver. The passengers looked on with a mix of impatience and amusement.

She shook her head. “I have to go. It’s an emergency.”

“I can drive you there”

She raised an eyebrow. “In that Fiat?”

“It overtook that bus.”

“I’m headed to a part of Tierra del Fuego where there’s nothing but tundra.”

“Not a problem.”

“You don’t understand. I’m going to the end of the world.”

“Got it. We’ll split the gas.”

The silence grew.

Lucas reached into his pockets and pulled out her eyeglasses.

She froze. “So you know.”

Lucas nodded grimly.

She entered the bus and spoke to the driver. She reemerged with her luggage and walked towards his car. Lucas maneuvered the Fiat out of the way, and the bus closed its doors and drove off into the night.

Cybersix shut the passenger door and looked straight ahead.

“South then?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Where’s Data 7?”

“They must’ve taken him.”

“I’m sorry. We’ll find him.” Lucas started the ignition.

He wanted to talk, but the adrenaline of the chase wore off and his stomach tied itself into knots. She looked exhausted and deep in thought. The next half hour was quiet as he drove on in near darkness, with only the occasional truck passing them by. Dirt mountains gave way to sparsely inhabited plains dotted by closed corner stores and dimly lit gasoline stations. He kept an eye out for a place that served brewed coffee, but no luck. That single mug back in Meridiana wasn’t enough.

Lucas stifled a yawn. “Should I call you Cybersix? Or Adrian?”

“Either I suppose.” She looked down and fingered the eye glasses on her lap.

“But Adrian is just a disguise.”

“No, he isn’t. _I_ am Adrian.”

“So _Adrian_ , where are we going?”

“Before we go any further, you should pull over first.”

Lucas pulled over into the shoulder and turned off the ignition. His hands grew clammy.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” she whispered.

“Why didn’t you come back to me?”

She grew silent.

“I’ll be dead soon, Lucas.”

His insides grew cold. His vision blurred at the edges and the world suddenly seemed unreal.

“I know that you’ve developed feelings for me,” she continued, “but it’s best that you don’t get caught up in them. I’m sorry.”

He finally spoke. “How much time do we have? How can I save you?”

Cybersix smiled briefly. “If I stretch it, I have enough Sustenance for a week. But I’m more concerned about protecting everyone from what’s coming next.”

“I want to know everything.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m ready.”

She opened up about her origins: Nazis. Von Reichter’s Experiments. The Cyber children. Memories of running barefoot with other children through concrete floors and flickering fluorescent lighting—playing hide-and-seek amidst mysterious laboratory equipment and decrepit pre-World War II artefacts. The words spilled out of her, as if she were releasing what she had held back for so long. But her face was vacant, her eyes unfocused, and Lucas knew that she was in a place that he couldn’t reach.

Cybersix continued, speaking of her years of confinement, shivering in freezing cells, and hearing the cries of her siblings in adjacent experiment rooms. Then the Cybers rallied, and came the uprising—and the massacre. She was the only one who survived. As a teenager, she lived in hiding and hitchhiked across the country, constantly in search of Von Reichter’s other creations—driven by the necessity of feeding on the Sustenance that ran in their veins. Nameless and homeless, she was a scavenger that lived on the margins of the human world. And yet she was not human, and the other creations hated her for hunting them down.

One night on a desolate highway, she found the bodies of a family who had died in a car accident, one of which was a boy roughly her age: his name was Adrian. She took his identification and became him, doing odd jobs like washing dishes in backwater towns—and disappearing to the next town Von Reichter’s creatures moved to. She didn’t know what they were doing, but she knew that Von Reichter had plans to capture more territory. Between the hunts and the jobs, she kept to herself. Humans fascinated her because of their diversity, contradictory natures, and freedoms but their unpredictability frightened her. So instead, she read books to take a glimpse into their lives and see how they responded to the same questions that haunted her. Fictional characters kept her company as she vicariously lived through their experiences—and they gave her the courage to further explore the human world.

She faked papers to enter college, and landed her first teaching job in Meridiana where Von Reichter’s creatures were in large enough numbers to guarantee her a steady supply of Sustenance. Then there were Von Reichter’s plans to take over the city, the Isle of Doom, his death and Jose’s escape to The Fortress—which now brought them here.

Sunlight began to stream from the horizon, and birds chirped in the fields beyond.

Cybersix bit her lip. “It’s a bizarre story, isn’t it?”

Lucas nodded, wide-eyed but exhausted. “But I believe you.” He had deduced her dependency on Sustenance and being more than human, but he didn’t know how to process the rest.

Cybersix gave a pained smile. “You thought I was a hero, but in the end I’m just a parasite.”

“You know that’s not true,” he protested.

“I only protected Meridiana so I could keep playing at being human.”

Lucas shook his head. “You saved the city from a crisis nearly every week. We’d be all gone without you.”

“But why didn’t I remove Von Reichter or Jose altogether?” Anger crept into her voice. “Why did I only deal with the immediate threat, when I knew that more would come?”

Her tone broke his heart. “You’re only one person.”

“No, it was because I wasn’t brave enough to do what was needed.” She hung her head and balled her hands into fists. “To truly oppose them would mean letting go of my life as Adrian. And deep down, I wanted things to stay the same.”

Lucas said nothing. He knew that he wanted things to stay the same as well.

The sound of passing cars punctuated the silence that hung between them, yet the air remained heavy.

“You’re on a suicide mission, aren’t you?” he finally spoke.

She was quiet.

His stomach churned. “You had just saved Meridiana and survived an explosion. Can’t we find a source of Sustenance and figure out the rest later?”

“This is more than about Meridiana. If I wait and let Jose fully take over, his strength and influence will spread. He’s a danger to all. There will be more monsters and it’ll never end.”

Lucas slumped in his seat and looked away. It was all wrong, and nothing was going the way it was supposed to. He didn’t sign up for an adventure just to watch her die. But this wasn’t about him, was it?

She searched his face. “I owe you for everything you’ve done. But it’s time for you to turn back and live your life.”

You _are_ my life, he wanted to protest. But instead he joked half-heartedly, “Can’t. I made you miss your bus.”

She didn’t smile. “I’m serious.”

“So am I. I’m telling you, I’ll drive you there.”

“What’s the point of that?”

“I love you.”

She softened and squeezed his hand. “That’s what I’m afraid of”.

He pulled her in for an embrace, as best as he could manage inside the cramped car. She stiffened but eventually relaxed. It was unfair. It was as if they were breaking up even before they had a chance to be together.

“As much I hate this, the least I can do is see it through,” he murmured.

She pulled away as a warm smile escaped her lips. “Thank you. Perhaps it would be easier if you’d only see me as Adrian?” Adrian put on the eyeglasses. The feminine lashes were obscured by the large frames and drew attention to the jawline. It completed the androgynous yet masculine look.

Lucas nodded. “So Adrian, what’s the plan?”

“We drive to the Fortress and destroy everything,” Adrian said in a deeper voice, adjusting his hair in rear view mirror.

“Got more details to add?”

“Since when did we do details?

Lucas grinned. “Just like old times.” He turned the ignition on and drove back on the highway.

Despite the brightening skies, Adrian dozed off while leaning against the passenger side window. Lucas noted that there were now more cars on the road. If they were truly going to a remote part of Tierra del Fuego, the drive was going to take the better part of three days. Lucas yawned and squinted blearily into the distance. He forgot to bring sunglasses, and the landscape became even less populated so there was definitely no coffee for a while.

Sleepy highway towns had given way to rocky desert-like terrain, small shrubs, and not much else. If he wasn’t mistaken, there was a national park nearby with some interesting rock formations where the bones of a Tyrannosaurus had been found. The bones were featured in a travelling exhibition, but they had mysteriously gone missing while en route back to its permanent museum in southern Patagonia. He wanted to talk to Adrian about it, along with some of the fun conspiracy theories about how the bones had gone missing, but he didn’t want to wake him.

Then the rear window exploded.

Tiny pieces of tempered glass flew in the air; a large object slit Lucas’ right arm and lodged itself on the dashboard. A grappling hook. Blood flowed down his forearm.

Lucas cursed as he tried to keep on driving, and looked in the rear view mirror. Attached to the end of the grappling hook was a launcher mounted on top of a yellow Land Rover just behind them, with a pale man in bright red jacket sticking his head out the window. And he was with other strange men that resembled zombies more than people.

“They found us,” Adrian said, now awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after [You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side by Morrissey](https://youtu.be/biSB3VljZiA). It has some rockabilly/spaghetti western vibes so I’ve always it headcanoned as part of a road trip soundtrack.


	4. Shadowplay

****With his left hand on the steering wheel, Lucas tried to dislodge the grappling hook. It wouldn’t budge. Rivulets of blood ran down his other arm, seeping into his shirt sleeve. As much as he grew used to cleaning up after his student’s dissections, his own blood was a different matter. He gripped the steering wheel tight with both hands, willing himself to think about anything but the wetness growing on his side.

They reached a suspension bridge, and it stretched over a wide river that was dark from agricultural wastes. It was on the fringes of a city; buildings peeked through the row of trees on the other side.

The Land Rover they were tied to carried four men: two stupid-looking giants in the back, and two in front who could pass as human if it weren’t for their sunken features and pale corpse-like skin. 

“How’d they find us?” Lucas managed to steady his voice.

Adrian put away his eye glasses and rolled up his sleeves, revealing his Cyber serial number tattoo. “It doesn’t matter,” he said as he crawled to the backseat. “Keep driving.”

From the rear-view mirror, he saw Adrian kick the remaining glass off the back window. Lucas eased off the gas pedal just enough for the cars to nearly meet bumper-to-bumper. Adrian acrobatically angled his way out the tiny back window, up the roof, and then landed on the Land Rover without breaking a sweat. His loose shirt billowed in the strong winds.

A pale man in the front passenger seat leaned out the window. “Who the fuck is this guy?” he spat, jerking his thumb at the intruder above.

In one smooth motion, Adrian yanked the pale man out of the car, rolled backwards, and used the momentum to hurl him off the bridge. The man’s scream could be heard as he sunk into the murky depths below.

“It’s Cybersix!” the driver shrieked, sounding ready to piss himself.The giants in the back looked uneasy.

Lucas found himself looking back and grinning from ear to ear. Seeing Cybersix in action never grew old.

Adrian’s eyes grew wide, “Lucas!”

Lucas whipped back to the front and saw a wall of chrome blocking his entire view: a truck barrelled straight at them, honking madly. He veered back into the correct lane, and the Land Rover just barely followed suit as the truck smashed its side mirror. The penned pigs in the truck passed them by just inches away, their high-pitched squeals setting Lucas on edge. He cursed.

Adrian had managed to stay on by bracing himself against the grappling hook launcher. But before long, the Land Rover’s side door swung open. A giant lumbered up the roof wearing steel-toe boots and the roof sunk under its weight. The creature stretched to its full length, reaching nearly twice Adrian’s height and shadowing him completely.

Adrian cocked his head and smiled. “Missed me?”

The giant roared, lunging forward with a straight punch to the head. Adrian easily bobbed and weaved beneath its arm, landing three rapid jabs to the solar plexus before dancing out of range. The giant’s face contorted in anger. 

They were now past the suspension bridge. Lucas didn’t know what to do other than to continue driving south along the national highway. Knowing Cybersix, she’d want to keep their fight far away from civilians as much as possible. So down the highway he drove, leaving civilization behind yet again. On the left side was the ocean, and on the right were rocky cliffs. Trucks and cars passed by them, not even bothering to slow down, likely wanting to avoid any trouble themselves.

The giant kicked Adrian in the gut. Adrian coughed and fell back, but managed to hold on to the giant’s leg.

The giant’s eyes widened, realizing its mistake.

Just as Adrian was about to move, he cried out and collapsed—ragged breaths shaking his frame.

It dawned on Lucas: Adrian was going through Sustenance withdrawal.

The giant stared dumbly at Adrian for a moment, then made a choking sound. It turned out to be a laugh—gasping and halting like a saw carving through bone. Its steel-toe boot made contact with Adrian’s chin; his head snapped back and he fell unconscious, rolling to his side. The giant stomped and struck Adrian over and over again. And Adrian convulsed. Lucas watched on in horror, each contact drawing bile up his throat.

Finally, Adrian coughed and gasped for air.

And the creature kicked him off the roof.

Adrian clung on to the grappling hook launcher while dangling off the ground, just inches away from being crushed by the wall of rock to their right.

Lucas made his turns as wide as possible to give Adrian some space. He gritted his teeth. Every cell in his body screamed for him to help Adrian. He wanted to stop the car, but he couldn’t unless the other driver would do so as well. He couldn’t risk getting crushed by the Land Rover, so there was no choice but to drive on.

Adrian tried to pull himself up with both hands, but the giant stomped on his left hand. He shrieked in pain. He still held on with his right, but barely. The giant stomped on him again, and this time, his convulsions returned.

And he let go.

Lucas stopped breathing.

The giant grinned and pulled Adrian back up the shirt collar. The creature pulled its arm back for a hook, and Lucas looked away. But he could still hear the punches land. And land. And land. Adrian cried out in pain.

But at least he was conscious.

In the midst of the chaos, Lucas had the presence of mind to try to see where the fuck they were headed. A signpost lay ahead. An exit to the right would take them through a tunnel and up to a viewpoint. That tunnel was his chance. Lucas took the exit and they found themselves on a rough gravel road.

The tunnel was less than a hundred meters way, and it was framed by blue tarp, low metal scaffolding, an array of construction vehicles, and a stupid _Under Construction_ sign that should’ve been on the signpost to begin with. Lucas cursed and prayed that the tunnel wasn’t blocked. He stepped on the gas pedal and sped straight ahead.

“Get down!” Lucas yelled.

The giant turned to face Lucas; Adrian wrestled free of its grasp and ducked down.

Five seconds of darkness later, they reached the other side. Adrian passed safely under the overpass—the giant’s head did not.

For a moment, the giant’s headless body stood rigid, neck spurting green fluid that sizzled as it burned the roof. Then the body disintegrated in the wind.

A roar came from inside the Land Rover. The second giant was about to open the door.

“Don’t leave me here!” the driver screeched at his companion. The second giant ignored him, opened the door, and scrambled up the roof.

The gravel road began to incline upwards, and the Fiat struggled with the climb. Lucas had no idea how Adrian and the giant both managed to stay on the roof. The giant looked almost identical to the brother that came before it, except this one was uglier and sported a scar on its face.

As if expecting another blow, Adrian tensed up—but the giant ignored him and went for the grappling hook launcher instead. It began to reel the grappling hook in.

In the metal jaws of the grappling hook, the dashboard in front of Lucas began to fold up. Lucas cursed, and tried to yank out the grappling hook but it was all in vain, it continued to pull the dashboard and the rest of the Fiat with it. The casing on the speedometer shattered. The gravel road plateaued, but their tires spun forward uselessly as the Land Rover gained on them inch by inch.

“Adrian, a little help please!” Lucas shouted.

Adrian threw himself at the giant, locking his arms around its neck in a choke hold. It growled and head butted him.

Lucas shook his head, wondering what these mooks were thinking. Why a grappling hook? This entire situation could’ve been over in seconds if they had guns instead.

Adrian continued to attack and grapple with the giant, but it continued to focus on reeling in the Fiat in. As the fighting went on, Lucas kept his eye out for what lay ahead.

The viewpoint revealed itself: a scenic view of the ocean from high above, with the sun shining brightly on the rocky shoreline. And the road itself ended in a small parking lot at the cliff’s edge.

“Turn around! It’s a dead end!” Lucas yelled at the driver behind.

The driver looked puzzled and shouted back, “Is that a trick?”

Lucas groaned. Fucking idiots. “Adrian! Stop the car!”

Adrian climbed into the Land Rover’s front passenger window. The giant’s hand reached in, trying to grab him back but he kicked it away. The giant shrugged and resumed reeling in the Fiat.

And the Fiat’s dashboard broke in half.

His survival instincts kicked in. Lucas opened the door and threw himself out into the road. He rolled away in what felt like ages, gravel digging into his arms. When he came to a stop, he watched the literal car wreck in front unfold.

The grappling hook shot through the Fiat and sent the back hatch flying through the air, and the luggage spilled out. The Land Rover managed to evade it all by sheer luck; the back hatch missed the giant’s face by just a hair. 

He squinted at the Land Rover, trying to make out the figures struggling in the front seat. The Land Rover drove onward, pushing the empty shell of the Fiat, seconds away from rolling both vehicles down into the rocks below.

“Adrian!” Lucas screamed, blood pounding in his ears.

The Fiat was pushed off the cliff and it smashed against the rocks. The Land Rover came to a sudden stop, and the momentum launched the giant into the air. The giant’s scream ended when it shared the Fiat’s fate.

There was silence.

The driver of the Land Rover leapt out of the car, half-sobbing and half-scrambling towards the road. As he passed by Lucas, he thought of going after him but decided against it. 

Laying on the ground, he groaned. Lucas could feel the sting of the cuts up his arm, and the gravel buried under his skin. Every muscle in his body screamed in pain from the nasty fall. It took probably him an entire minute to stand up.He held his right arm close as he limped towards the Land Rover.

Adrian had already done some rummaging in the car. There was a cooler full of Sustenance vials, and one of the vials was already half-empty.

“You okay?” Lucas asked, leaning against the car.

Adrian had definitely taken a beating. His normally attractive face sported a busted lip, a swollen eye, splotchy bruised skin all over.

“I’m alive for now,” Adrian said.

“Are you drinking enough of that stuff?” He motioned at the cooler. “You scared me back there.”

“Probably not.”

Lucas picked up the half-empty vial. “Drink the rest… just to be safe.” He saw the vial reflected in Adrian’s eyes, and he watched emotions flicker through them—hunger, disgust, and resignation.

“Okay.” Adrian took the vial and twisted it open. “But could you do me a favour?”

“Anything.”

“Don’t watch.”

Lucas looked away. The scientist in him wanted to ask all sorts of questions about Sustenance, but he kept his mouth shut. He faced the ocean instead and watched the birds circle around a boulder where the giant had likely disintegrated. The view was peaceful other than the hunk of crumpled car on the rocks below, partially submerged in water.

“My grandfather gave me that car,” Lucas sighed.

“I’m sorry, Lucas,” Adrian placed a hand on his shoulder. He paused for a moment. “At least we can upgrade.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after [Shadowplay by the The Killers](https://youtu.be/wrbKvxGgFfg). It's a pretty good cover, I'd say! 
> 
> This was 2000 of the most difficult words I had ever written. Firstly, I don't drive so figuring out a car chase scene in a not-so-fictional place I've never been to was an imaginative stretch, and writing action scenes is still pretty new to me. I had been working on the chapter on-and-off, editing and rewriting for a period of three months. I also kept getting interrupted by work crunch periods, travel, and my own personal weirdness so I'm really glad it's done. If anyone knows of a book that's a how to guide for writing while mood disordered, definitely let me know because anhedonia is terrible for creative output. I'm working on writing a little bit each day as a habit, so hopefully the wait isn't as long for the next chapter!
> 
> I'm looking for beta readers. Anyone interested? Familiarity with the canon not required. Looking for feedback on grammar (boy, I love comma splices) and just general ways I could improve a scene. Any sort of feedback on past chapters are welcomed as well. Feel free to comment on the review section or send me a private message over Tumblr @fridakitsch
> 
> I am also dorky enough to make a fanfic-themed playlist on Spotify. HAHAHA. http://spoti.fi/2yHGVwM It has the moody and brooding songs for long night drives, and it's meant to be listened to in order just like an old school mixtape. Remember those? If I were more hardcore about it I would've only picked songs from the 90s because that's sort of when the Cybersix universe was set, but eh. Also, if anyone has noticed, I'm starting to name my chapters with song titles because y'know, I'm already writing fanfic so why the hell not. 
> 
> Can't wait to hear from you folks :)


	5. People Are Strange

 

“ _Everyone’s gone—she took all of them out_!” the Techno bawled via speakerphone.

Jose bit his tongue even though he wanted to castigate the driver to the point that he would wish that he never crawled out of his womb-simulated vat. The idiot called from a gas station and interrupted him from his chemical bath, so now Jose was dripping liquid stench all over the study’s carpeted floors in a bathrobe that would also soon stink. Miguel handed him a towel as a consolation. Jose dried his hair with it, taking out his aggression on the towel instead.

The study was furnished as Father had left it: oversized mahogany desk with the phone, mid-century modern sideboard with chrome bestial figurines from the Schutzstaffel days, taxidermy wall mounts of animal and human hybrids, the dim indoor lighting of a vampire lair. Father’s massive portrait still hung from the wall in its gaudy gold-plated frame, and it towered over everything else as if it were delivering a divine judgment. Jose bristled. He would have it removed.

_“—she jumped on the roof dressed like a man so we had our guard down and—”_

Jose had ordered that team to follow the blond square-shaped human because he’d lead them to Cybersix. So if some friend of the blond jumped on your car, wouldn’t the odds be _extremely fucking high_ that the person was Cybersix? He glared so hard at the speakerphone that it should’ve exploded, and the fact that it didn’t was an act of betrayal.

“That must have been very difficult,” Miguel soothed.

“ _It was.”_

Miguel nodded at the speakerphone. “I’m sure you did your best,”

 _“I tried to save them. I really did._ ”

“We believe you.”

Jose stared daggers at Miguel. The latter looked down at his shoes and shifted his weight.

“How did you escape?” Jose demanded, ending the imbecilic counselling session.

“ _I ran away_ ,” the driver wheezed.

“You ran away,” he sneered.

“ _Boss, I swear there was nothing else I could do—_ ”

“Where did they go?”

“ _I don’t know… the human was bleeding on the ground and they probably took the car—”_

“The Cyber’s ally was bleeding and you did _nothing_?”

The driver whimpered like a kicked dog. “ _—There were two of them and only one of me. The human is built like a tank too, like he was the big daddy of them Fixed Ideas—”_

Jose did not dignify the rambling with a response, and raised his hand to prevent Miguel from flapping his lips.

“ _Boss?_ ”

He let the silence drag on. Tall windows lined the west-facing wall, showing a panoramic view of the field outside. Jose surveyed the view; frost covered an endless expanse of barren soil, and snow began to drift down from the grey skies.

_“… I’m real sorry.”_

Jose held Miguel’s gaze.

_“I fucked up real bad but I dunno how things could’ve been different._

Miguel’s jaw tightened.

_“Boss? You there?_

The large mahogany desk before them was covered in dust. Jose slid a finger down and drew a frowning hangman.

_“You’re not gonna let me starve out here, are you?_

Jose plopped down on the desk chair, which turned out to have four legs and zero swivelling capabilities.

_“Boss?_

Screw this mid-century modern crap. He would have everything replaced.

 _“Boss!_ ”

Jose ended the call.

“So we’re not sending a crew to pick him up,” Miguel glanced down. It wasn’t a question.

“Wanna guess why?” Jose observed him—he seemed to be broodier these days. After Father’s death, Jose expanded the Sustenance rationing system he had innovated in Meridiana to include the legacy crew in The Fortress. Instead of having an unlimited supply of Sustenance, now everyone only earned their share if they met the performance indicators set by Jose. Miguel was responsible for enforcing the new system, and they already had a death in less than a week. Dirty looks were being sent Miguel’s way.

“I suppose that it would be inadvisable to supply the Cyber with a second batch of Sustenance,” Miguel said finally.

Jose rose to his feet and clapped. “This is the kind of thinking we need.” He wanted to go back to his bath with a souvenir from Father’s liquor cabinet, but he paused. Miguel stared blankly at the dreary view through the tall windows, as if the empty landscape around them were closing in.

“Tell me,” Jose strode to his side, clasping his hands behind his back. “How smart are Technos?”

“Sir?”

“You’re a Techno. That driver is a Techno.”

There was a pause. “If I am not mistaken, the cognitive abilities that Technos have are comparable to those of humans.”

“Go on.”

“Their abilities follow a normal distribution: some may perform close to the ceiling previously established by the Cybers, while others may only be a standard deviation above the Fixed Ideas.”

“Would you place that driver at the upper range?”

“No, sir.”

“Would it be a worthwhile use of resources to retrieve his ass?”

Miguel paused. “It would be unlikely.”

“Remember that,” Jose a placed a hand on his shoulder. “Remember Father’s vision of a superior race. And who knows,” he shrugged, “you might see him again if he’s smart enough to hitchhike back.” He kept his hand on Miguel for a touch too long, and the latter stiffened. Miguel had been his caretaker for the better part of two decades, and it felt good to finally stand at the same physical height as him.

“So we’re letting the Cyber go?” Miguel frowned.

Jose’s shoulders rose. “Is she free if she has to face me to stay alive? It’s just a matter of time. We can set up all the traps we want, and she’ll have no choice but to walk right into them.”

The frown remained. “But are you not concerned about the timing of her return?”

“What do you mean?”

“Things have been… restless since the implementation of the Sustenance system.”

Jose’s nostrils flared. “The hell does that have to do with anything?”

“The Cybers are very good at inciting revolts.” Miguel met his eyes.

Jose saw his twisted reflection in the Techno’s beady black pupils. “What, you think they’d choose her over me?” He forced a laugh.

Miguel didn’t laugh along.

“ _Why?_ ” Jose sputtered.

Miguel looked away while mumbling something.

“What was that?” He grabbed Miguel’s arm.

“—Because you drink Sustenance _just like rest of us_ ,” Miguel said.

Jose saw red. He felt the blood boil inside him like a volcano, rising from his gut to his veins, and it poured over to punch Miguel and shove him to the ground. And like the slimy worm he was, Miguel curled up to shield himself.

“I’M-” Jose delivered a kick to the head.

“-BETTER THAN-” To the crotch.

“YOU!” he ended with a kick to the side, standing tall over the trembling Techno.

Jose stepped over him, shaking his head. Out of Father’s creations, the intelligent Technos were the most indispensable to the operations but also carried the greatest risk. What the fuck could he do with a compromised right-hand man? “Why did you have to bring that up?”

Miguel didn’t respond.

“I know people have been turning on you recently, but there’s no reason to take it out on me,” Jose sighed as he paced the room. “No matter how smart any of you are, Von Reichter made you and I am his clone. Therefore, I own _all_ _you fuckers_ and nothing will ever change that.”

Jose rubbed his temples and took several deep breaths. The rage receded, leaving behind disappointment. “You know better. You know exactly what you can do and what you can’t. So get your shit together and things will eventually look up.”

He reached out his hand, and then Miguel looked at it warily. For a split second, Jose was concerned that he wasn’t going to take it. But when he did, Jose felt proud of him. He pulled Miguel up to his feet, and the Techno regained his composure.

“We clear?” Jose said.

Miguel gave a nod.

Good enough. “Now, where were we?” Jose resumed. “Oh, the human—what’s his deal? Are they fucking each other?”

He looked at him blankly.

“It’s relevant,” Jose spat.

“I am… unsure,” Miguel cleared his throat, his voice somewhat shaky. “Although he does seem to regularly accompany her.”

Jose suddenly felt irrationally jealous of the Cyber—why did she get to have a human plaything while he didn’t? His lip curled. “Didn’t the driver say the human was bleeding? Would she be stupid enough to bring him along?”

Miguel paused, rubbing the back of his head. Did Jose kick him there? “Somehow, I cannot imagine her coming here without him.”

“Then we can roll out the red carpet for all I care. How long has he been out of Meridiana?”

He checked his watch. “About thirteen hours.”

“It’s settled then,” Jose allowed himself to grin widely. “He’s her downfall.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after [People Are Strange by Echo & the Bunnymen](https://youtu.be/yUgRSmo50gE). My headcanon includes the the goofy thunder sounds for the Lost Boys soundtrack. 
> 
> I'm still here! Writing consistently but still slow af. Hey, at least you're guaranteed living fic!
> 
> Thank you to the three betas who gave me their valuable feedback. You guys are the best. Thanks for fixing up my tenses, punctuation, and weird overly-hyphenated adjectives (see that!). Without betas, my fics probably would just be nothing but dialogue floating in empty space, so it's nice to be reminded of stuff like settings. My initial draft/word puke always looks super different from the end product (which is usually the third draft). There's 2000 words that didn't make it to this chapter, which is only about 1500. That explains my incredibly slow process. I still value all kinds of feedback though, even if it's just about a comma splice or something. So hit me up, it's cool.
> 
> Next chapter will be exclusively following Lucas & Adrian on their road trip. I think we're roughly midway through the fic. The total length shouldn't exceed 30k words because I like writing fics with legit pacing, minimal filler, and an actual ending that it works towards. I had an ending in mind already since day one, so just it's a matter of what the rest of the ride looks like. I hope you enjoy!


	6. Love Will Save You

****Lucas didn’t consider the Land Rover an upgrade. He continued to stare at the Fiat below the cliff but accepted Adrian’s attempt at consoling him anyway.

Adrian pulled his hand back, now stained with blood. “You’re bleeding,” he said with wide eyes.

Lucas looked down at his arms, which were an unsightly mess of dirt and blood. He grew dizzy and his knees buckled.

“I’m taking you to a doctor.” Adrian placed Lucas’ arm around him and hoisted him up. He grumbled in protest, but Adrian had already positioned him in the front passenger seat. Adrian ran out to the road, collected their luggage and threw it in the back, and returned to buckle himself and Lucas into their seats.

“Here,” Adrian handed him a bottle of water. When he drank the water, Lucas felt a strange tingling—almost crawling—sensation down his throat. He also had a splitting headache. 

Adrian turned the ignition on and began to move the vehicle in reverse.

“Hang on, do you drive?” Lucas asked.

“Now I do,” Adrian replied resolutely.

He was about to protest, but fatigue pulled him into an uneasy sleep. Wandering thoughts became dreams, and he drifted between the two states. He dreamt of the Fiat sitting on the rocks, partially submerged in sea water. His grandfather had left him the car when the old man moved back to Italy more than a decade ago. Lucas had promised to visit him, but never did and he had passed away. Regret hung heavy in his heart.

He could see the car vividly in his mind’s eye. Birds perched on the roof top, the tides rose and fell around it, and the paint peeled away to reveal a skeletal metal frame. The ocean air, like vultures, ate away at the metal frame until it was pockmarked and resembled the rocks it was nestled in with, leaving behind an artefact overlooked by the indifferent currents of time.

Lucas woke up with a jolt.

“We’re here.” Adrian placed a hand on his shoulder.

They were in the parking lot of a small clinic. The building’s exterior was stained with mold and weeds grew on the roof.

“How long was I asleep?” Lucas yawned, noticing a blanket draped on him that wasn’t there before

“About an hour,” Adrian replied while rubbing his neck. The dashboard blinked _1:05 PM_. The air was noticeably cooler, and Adrian had a trench coat on which also covered up the bloodstains on his collar. His facial injuries had already begun to clear up: the bruises and swelling had faded, and the scab on his bottom lip was the only remnant of their ordeal.

“You heal quickly,” Lucas commented. Without thinking, he reached for Adrian’s chin, his thumb just barely brushing the scab. It was fascinating. How did his skin resolve the inflammatory phase in less than an hour?

When he felt Adrian’s shaky breaths on his skin, he came to his senses and withdrew his hand. His ears burned red, and they avoided eye contact as they made their way inside the clinic.

Adrian refused to get examined and instead hung behind in the waiting room, burying his nose in a secondhand Jorge Luis Borges book. Lucas looked like he had walked out of a horror movie—that called the attention of the staff fairly quickly, and so he was immediately ushered into the doctor’s office.

“What brings you here?” the doctor asked, flipping through a clipboard. She had curly hair and looked about his age. She raised an eyebrow at his arms. “Those are nasty.”

“Do they have to be amputated?” Lucas joked.

The doctor grinned. “We’ll just have to find out. What happened?”

“I jumped out of a moving car. Attempted kidnapping. Long story.”

There were no follow-up questions.

A nurse cleaned and disinfected his wounds, and it stung like crazy. A local anaesthetic was administered and the doctor sutured his wounds shut. He didn’t feel pain but he could sense that his skin was being sewn shut; he looked away the entire time. The right arm noticeably took longer to sew up because of that damn grappling hook.

“Is the guy reading the book with you?” the doctor asked.

“You could tell?”

“People here don’t wear trench coats. Is he here for a check-up?”

“No, he’s jittery around doctors. But he’s okay as far as I know.”

“Too bad. He’s kind of cute.”

After the awkward exchange, the doctor bandaged his wounds and gave him care instructions, and told him to return in a week to have the stitches removed.

Adrian was too engrossed in his book to notice that Lucas was back in the waiting room.

“I think the doctor has a crush on you,” Lucas grinned.

Adrian groaned and made his exit.

Lucas chuckled as he trailed after him, and noticed a new dent on the Land Rover. He wondered how he could buy some time before being subjected to Adrian’s driving again.

* * *

He asked Adrian to help him change into a clean shirt, which took longer than usual because pulling shirts off and on was challenging with his injuries. After that task was accomplished, he accepted inevitable: Adrian was back on the wheel. As the car drifted in and out of the lane, Lucas was glad that there were few cars on the road. He didn’t comment since things were still a bit tense, so he coped by trying to sleep. When a diner came into view, he exhaled in relief.

Lucas silently noticed that their car was parked at an angle and over the line. A no-name gasoline station sat beside the diner; a sandwich board advertised complementary coffee with every lunch meal or full tank of gas. As they walked in, the chimes on the door announced their entrance.

Daytime drama played on a TV in the corner, the chairs were covered in a hideous geometric patterned fabric, and the decor looked like time had stopped in the 1980s. However, time did not stop for its patrons, as they appeared to be pushing eighty. The seniors took up a third of the booths, and nursed their empty cups for who knows how long. Nevertheless, the disapproving looks they gave Lucas’ bandaged arms, the smashed side mirror of the Land Rover, and the grappling hook on top suggested that their eyesight was still keen.

They took the booth by the window and he sat opposite Adrian. The middle-aged waitress took their order: empanadas and quiche for Adrian, steak and fries for Lucas. Complementary coffee was served. The anaesthetic made grasping the mug awkward but he didn’t care. After the drama of the last twenty-four hours, the coffee tasted like the best thing brewed on this mortal plane. He was too tired to feel the effects of the caffeine, but it was still worth savouring. 

Adrian sipped his coffee. “Will you head back?”

Lucas choked on his drink.

“So that’s a no.” Adrian frowned.

“Why do I feel like you don’t want me around?” Lucas strangled a reply.

“I’m just worried.”

“That I’ll mess up?”

“No. Just worried about you.”

They both looked away. Their dishes arrived and they ate in silence. The anaesthetic hadn’t worn off and it made slicing through the overcooked steak a chore, so Lucas did it stiffly and mostly used his left hand. He felt self-conscious, sensing Adrian’s gaze bearing down on him. Thoughts swirled in his head about all the times Cybersix had asked him to stay away. Things had turned out okay, but only this time he wasn’t so sure; self-doubt gnawed at his insides and the steak wasn’t smothering it fast enough.

“I found something interesting,” Adrian said, changing the subject.

He relaxed a bit. “Yeah?”

Adrian pulled out some papers from his trench coat and spread them out on the table. “These were in the glove compartment.”

There were two aerial pictures of Meridiana’s lighthouse park, before the Isle of Doom explosion and the after. The post-explosion picture had a grid superimposed on it with entire sections marked out.

“They were searching for you too,” Lucas said. Adrian nodded, and then unfolded a large map of the country. It revealed key trucking routes and storage locations that stretched out to two urban centers, to the north and south of Meridiana.

Lucas’ eyes widened. “I thought you said that Merdiana is the only city they’re in.”

“I did.”

“So they’re expanding?”

“They’re expanding the area of Sustenance delivery, at least.”

“These look very detailed though,” Lucas scratched his head. “Do you think that they’re already storing Sustenance in these places?”

Adrian nodded.

“But why?”

“I have no idea. And that bothers me.” Adrian said grimly.

Lucas chewed on the last of his steak while entertaining theories in his mind, already holding back on the silliest ones. It was funny how he had slowly changed to impress his friend.

He snuck a peek across the table, and Adrian looked out the window while deep in thought. Adrian’s chin rested against a palm, his silhouette casting a shadow in the afternoon light. The sharp angles of his face was balanced by a softness to the features: perfectly combining masculine and feminine. No wonder why he was pleasing to the eye as either gender.

Physical beauty aside, Lucas was drawn to his eyes. As Cybersix, her eyes had a vulnerability that was compelling, and it came from both the strength and sadness of knowing too much. That look was hidden more carefully when he was Adrian, and instead it was guarded by a distance that Lucas wanted to close. He yearned to see what was hidden beneath the surface, even if it contained a world of experience that was mysterious and out of his depth.

“What is it?” Adrian asked.

He froze as he was caught staring.

Adrian gave a knowing grin, but the television caught their attention. Somehow it was changed to the 24 hour national news channel, and a headline flashed on the news ticker: _An Entire Village Abducted?_

The footage showed a male reporter in a blue windbreaker walking around a village, showing how it was completely deserted of people. He opening door after door to reveal empty houses, establishments, and churches. Only the farm animals were left behind; cows and horses roamed the streets freely.

“That place sounds familiar,” Adrian said, searching the map. He then pointed to a place about half a day’s drive south, just maybe an hour detour from the national highway. The map indicated that there were storage locations there as well.

“Wanna check it out?” Lucas asked, stifling a yawn.

“Yes. Hopefully the media will be gone by then.”

The news program showed more footage: confused and inarticulate truckers, crying relatives who lived elsewhere, a woman spouting nonsense about aliens, government officials refusing to make comments. Nothing useful.

“Why would they kidnap humans?” Adrian murmured.

Lucas felt his eyes drooping. “I’m beat. I’m leaving the theories for tomorrow,” he stretched and asked for the bill.

This time Adrian paid for all of it, and left behind a generous tip.

“Not like I can use it when I’m dead,” Adrian shrugged. 

* * *

To their luck, there were budget accommodations just a few blocks away from the diner, probably meant for desperate travelers just like them. A little old lady ran a general store at the front while furnished rooms lined the back. It was probably unlicensed, but they didn’t care. Twin beds, a private bathroom, and a door that locked—it was adequate. Adrian hauled their luggage in and Lucas shut out the afternoon sun by drawing the curtains shut, its cheap polyester smelling of old cigarette smoke.

He collapsed on to the nearest bed, not even bothering to change out of his clothes or crawl into the sheets. Apparently his relatively wakeful state in the diner was the caffeine kick, and it had left him drained.

“When do they need to be changed?” Adrian asked while he took off his shirt, facing away from Lucas. Through his half-lidded eyes, he could dimly see Adrian pulling off his binder but Lucas was too out of it to even react.

“Change what?” Lucas mumbled.

“Your bandages.”

Lucas said something but he couldn’t even remember what. The pull of sleep was too strong. Adrian changed into pajamas and sat on the other bed, contemplating something. Time passed. Lucas drifted in and out of sleep, and thought that he had gone to the bathroom to wash up when it turned out to be just a dream. He dreamt of Cybersix lying beside him, certainly not for the first time, because he was a lonely man and her mere physical presence already meant so much to him.

Then he felt her lips press against his.

It would’ve been a dream if it weren’t for the pain shooting up his arms.

“Sorry,” Adrian mumbled, adjusting her weight. She, or he, wasn’t wearing her eyeglasses and her hair was down, so she looked somewhere between Adrian and Cybersix. She _was_ lying beside him, much to his confusion.

“What—” Lucas began, and was shut up by another kiss.

Her lips were as soft as Lucas last remembered, but this time she smelled of coffee and musty books instead of rain and latex. It was familiar and comforting. Her hands roamed across Lucas’ wide shoulders and down his broad chest, and sighed into the kiss. He couldn’t tell if he was kissing Cybersix or Adrian—somehow it felt like both. The boundaries between the two identities had melted away, and he felt like as if Adrian was shifting between the two roles and their genders.

Lucas came to his senses and sat up to reciprocate the kiss properly. With his tongue, he nudged Adrian’s mouth open and he let Lucas in. His senses were electrified, as if Adrian were the source of the charge. He tasted of salt and coffee, and there was also a metallic aftertaste, which made the hairs on Lucas’ neck stand on edge. Lucas kissed his cheek, his jaw, and savoured the feel of his cool skin. Adrian shuddered at the contact. Lucas didn’t care where he came from, he just wanted to hold him for eternity.

Adrian in turn, wrapped his arms around Lucas’ neck and pulled himself to his lap. His body was slender relative to Lucas’, yet Lucas slowly relished the feel of the lean muscles that went down his back and the subtle hourglass shape of his figure. Before he knew of Adrian’s true identity, he had assumed that his friend was scrawny, and now he realized that the oversized shirts and sweaters were designed to hide the build of an athlete. Adrian’s hands were all over—in his hair, up his shirt, down his back—frantically grasping and searching and taking as if they were in their final moments.

“Slow down,” Lucas murmured against her chest. Her breaths were quick but her pulse was unnaturally slow. She was disorienting, both familiar and alien. A bead of sweat snaked down her chest, and it tasted acrid like smoke—it was a stark reminder of her unusual origins. A chill shot down his spine, as if his instincts were telling him that none of this were natural.

There was a pause.

“This was a mistake,” Adrian whispered, pulling back.

Lucas took her hand in his. “What’s wrong?”

“It doesn’t feel right to you, does it?” she stroked Lucas’ cheek.

Lucas leaned into the touch. “It’s different, but we can make it work.”

“It’s not the same,” she shook her head.

He brushed her hair back. “Tell me what I can do.”

She looked up at him and gave a sad smile. “There’s nothing you can do. It’s me… it’s this. It’s not how it should be.”

When she grew silent, he lifted her chin with a finger and looked into her eyes. “Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said softly.

Adrian took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I’m thinking about how I’ve tried to keep myself away from you, but I couldn’t—it’s been so lonely,” her voice was raw with emotion. “But when we’re close, the more I see what could’ve been if I wasn’t born wrong. Maybe I could’ve had a normal life with you, I don’t know.”

His heart ached. “I still want to be with you.”

“But I feel like… as if I were a blind man in the Library of Alexandria—all the knowledge of the ancient world open to me if only I were different. It’s wondrous, but it fills me with despair.”

Lucas didn’t know what to say, so he just leaned his forehead against hers and threaded their fingers together. 

“I’m sorry for bringing you into this mess, Lucas. I hope that explains why I don’t know how to act around you.”

“Yeah well, I chose to enter this mess.”

“I hope you find someone less complicated: human, just one gender, and not involved with Nazi scientists,” Adrian commented dryly. “I told you that Cybersix woman was dangerous business.”

“None of those had been deal breakers so far,” he replied.

“Just impending death, I suppose,” Adrian frowned. Lucas felt a shift in his friend—Adrian composed his expression and the boundaries settled back in place. Adrian untangled himself from Lucas’ form, and stood to buttoned up his top. Lucas found himself missing his weight already.

“This has been confusing—I’ll need some more space,” Adrian said coolly.

Lucas felt disappointed, and his headache returned. He drifted back to sleep, and did the best he could to stay grounded—to keep himself from thinking too much about futures that could never be, or from dreaming about lives that were to remain unlived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after [Love Will Save You by Swans](https://youtu.be/Wx6otT4ryBQ).
> 
> Not gonna lie, I love this chapter. I was in The Zone. This is my jam, fam. I'm taking a Canadian animated series/Argentine comic book from 20+ years ago and turn it into my weirdo version of neo-noir because this is my idea of a love letter to the original creators. I try to write in a way that’s canon-complaint but takes the characters in surprising directions just to mix things up a bit and screw with some fandom tropes because why not. 
> 
> Part of what excites me about this fanfic is taking Cybersix/Adrian out of the status quo in Meridiana and seeing how s/he deals with her/his personal struggles that way. No easy sustenance fix for our protag. I just hope you're having as much fun reading it as I am writing it. There’s around 5 more chapters to go.
> 
> Anyway, I try to write fanfic with enough background info that you can get into it without being super familiar with the source material. So if any of you are inclined to read a very different kind of romance trope destroyer, I have a completed Rurouni Kenshin fic called Strangers in a Tempest that takes place in a deserted tropical island during World War II because Why The Heck Not. I wrote it like eight years ago but I’m still pretty proud of it, and I’m happy that I’m back to writing fiction fairly regularly. Okay plug over, stay tuned and feel free to chat with me on Discord. 
> 
> Til next month,  
> Frida


	7. Cities in Dust

****“What time is it?” Lucas yawned, shielding his eyes from the glare of the bedside lamp.

“About four in the morning,” Adrian replied as he clipped on his suspenders. He was fully dressed and his shoelaces were tied. “How do you feel?”

Heartbroken? Confused? “Rough,” Lucas decided. He sat up and reached for a glass of water. The curtains were drawn shut, but it was probably still dark out.

Adrian frowned. “You slept for twelve hours. Is it your arms or something else?”

Lucas shrugged. “All of the above? I haven’t driven that distance in a while.” He took a gulp of water and cringed. “Is this tap water or soil?”

“Sorry, we’re out of bottled water.”

His mouth tasted like something crawled in, crapped out dirt and died, so Lucas plodded to the bathroom and shut the door. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and tried not to think about Adrian. He lingered in the bathroom for a few minutes as he towelled himself off. He wasn’t sure what he was dreading more, the cold morning air or the coldness of his friend.

Lucas took a deep breath and opened the door a crack.

Adrian handed him a new pair of trousers.

“Thanks,” he said and pulled them on. Adrian rummaged through Lucas’ duffel bag. It looked like he had been at it for a while, and he fished out a fresh roll of gauze.

Adrian took Lucas’ left arm and began to unravel the old, damp bandage.

“You don’t need to do this,” Lucas protested.

“It’s fine,” he insisted. Lucas held his breath as he watched Adrian’s steady and precise movements. His long, deft fingers betrayed a familiarity with the process, and were careful to not make contact with the affected area or the soiled underside of the wrappings. He wrapped the bare arm, skin ugly but healing, with the clean bandage and worked on undoing the one on the right; time passed slowly with the meditative quality of an engrossing ritual.

Then it was done.

Lucas looked at his perfectly dressed arms, impressed. “Were you running a clinic out of your apartment?”

“You could say that,” Adrian replied flatly.

There was a pause.

“I’m sorry,” Lucas said, “I wish I helped more.”

“It was my choice not to tell you,” Adrian shrugged and pulled out an oxford shirt from the duffel bag. Lucas was about to reach for it when Adrian stopped him.

“No, let me,” Adrian said. He effortlessly slipped the shirt sleeves over Lucas’ arms, his cool fingers grazing Lucas’ biceps. Lucas shuddered.

But Adrian didn’t look coy, instead he was intent on fastening Lucas’ shirt collar as if it were the most important job on earth. His fingers trailed down Lucas’ front, and moved from button to button until he reached the belt line. The slowness was maddening.

“There,” Adrian said as he fixed Lucas’ collar, and slid his palms across Lucas’ shoulders to smooth out the wrinkles.

Lucas kissed him on the cheek.

Adrian stiffened and pushed him away. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“But you feel it too, don’t you?” His voice cracked.

“I know. But we need to keep moving.” Adrian looked away and began packing.

* * *

The highway before dawn was deathly quiet, as there were only a few trucks on the road rolling down the opposing lane. He knew it was irrational to be mad at Adrian, but it still hurt. If he were the only person in the car, he might’ve been tempted to drift into the wrong lane. But since Adrian was beside him, he had to bottle up the storm growing inside. Lucas gripped the steering wheel tight, not caring if he gave himself permanent nerve damage.

Adrian avoided eye contact and didn’t speak, except to warn Lucas that he was driving too fast. Adrian mostly sat hunched over and read the Borges anthology book in the dark. After two hours on the road, it would’ve already been bright out in Meridiana, but they were so far south that there were only the beginning slivers of dawn over the horizon.

Lucas cleared his throat. “You can read in the dark?”

“Well enough,” Adrian replied.

That was all they said that morning. Before they left, they stocked up on supplies and filled up the gas without speaking a single word.

The sun finally rose, although its heat could only be barely felt in the morning chill. Lucas tried to distract himself from his thoughts by turning on the radio, but all that came out was static. He found a cassette tape on the dashboard, creatively labelled _Pop Hits #23_ , and decided to play the tape.

  _—every time I see you falling, I get down on my knees and pray—_

 He groaned. 1980s synth-pop greeted them, complete with drum machines and British musicians with pathetic levels of yearning. He pressed forward to the next track.

  _—under a blue moon I saw you, so soon you'll take me—_

 And forward.

  _—if I only thought of the right words, I could’ve held on to your heart—_

 Adrian raised an eyebrow. But it didn’t end.

  _—and if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die—_

 He winced and turned it off. Who knew that mooks listened to this crap? He spent the rest of the drive pointedly not giving Adrian a single glance and was grateful for the silence.

The drive was shorter than expected. They pulled up to the deserted village just half past noon, and the pale sun hung in the middle of the sky. Clouds crept closer together and conspired to block off what little warmth remained.

Lucas stepped out of the car and flipped up the collar of his trench coat. The temperature approached freezing. Even though they were only an hour west of the Atlantic, you couldn’t see the ocean from here. It felt like they were in an inland desert.

One-storey buildings lined the abandoned main street, and the fast food litter on the street corner was the only evidence of recent visitors from the media. Clumps of desert grass lined the sidewalk, and appeared to be dead or dying.

“Is this place known for cattle-grazing?” Adrian asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then something unnatural happened here.”

Adrian strode into the main street. Lucas followed him into a corner grocery store, where the lights and refrigeration was still on. It was eerie. A crate of overpriced tomatoes sat in the middle of the store, still perfectly red and ripe. Fragrant bunches of parsley stood upright in plastic bags. Lucas’ stomach rumbled.

Adrian pursed his lips. “People were here just a few days ago.”

They turned into an aisle and Lucas nearly slipped.

“This isn’t dust, is it?” he murmured, brushing off the ash he stepped into. Adrian’s look of alarm confirmed his suspicion. Adrian grabbed him by the wrist and led him zigzagging into the other aisles, where they found more ash. There was even ash behind the cash register. Adrian’s grip tightened, and his finger nails dug into Lucas’ skin.

“We need to go into one of the houses. Now,” Adrian growled.

Lucas ran after Adrian, who rushed out of the grocery store and crossed the street to an abandoned house. The door was left open, and it appeared to be the same house featured on the news. There was ash on the dining room chair. Adrian entered room after room, and his face grew white. He stood by the doorway of what was a teenager’s bedroom, judging by the Nirvana poster on the wall. There was ash on the bed. He shook, and then leaned against the doorframe for support.

“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked.

His voice was barely a whisper. “It’s just like when the Cybers were killed.”

“Wait—the ashes were people?”

“We don’t leave behind a body,” Adrian’s eyes glazed over. “You can’t dissect something that self-disintegrates.”

“I don’t understand. None of them were human?” Adrian didn’t reply. “Hey, Adrian?”

Adrian’s knees buckled and Lucas caught him.

“I should’ve gone back,” Adrian sobbed into his hands, “but I didn’t. They died because of me. And it’s happening again.”

“We should get you out of here,” Lucas said, but his friend remained unresponsive. So Lucas half-carried him out of the house, feeling every shuddering breath. And just their luck—big fat drops of rain began to fall from the sky, and they were soaked by the time they returned to the car.

Adrian wept in the backseat, and Lucas sat helplessly beside him. Adrian looked so uncharacteristically frail and broken, as if he had seen his siblings die again.

Rain poured, the sky grew darker, and lighting split the sky in half. Over a hill in the distance, he saw the shadow of a castle—tall and foreboding.

Then it was gone.

Lucas blinked. There was no hill, just barren flat pasture where cattle used to graze.

The rain eased up. He checked on Adrian; he was asleep but his skin felt cold. Lucas stepped out of the car and noticed that despite the rain, the grass still looked pretty dead. He poked his head back into the abandoned house, mouthed a silent apology to its former inhabitants, and brought a pot of water to a boil.

He was not typically one to pilfer coffee from the dead, but the grounds in the kitchen pantry smelled fragrant and Adrian needed some cheering up. As he opened the fridge and prepared some sandwiches, he thought about Adrian’s reaction, and more importantly, the guilt he heard in his voice.

He walked back to the car with a plate of sandwiches and two mugs of coffee. Much to his relief, Adrian was awake and reading a book in the back seat. Lucas knocked on the door while awkwardly trying not to spill or drop their meal.

Adrian opened the door. “I wondered where you went. Where did you get those?”

“The grocery,” he lied as he scooted into the back seat and shut the door.

Adrian took a steaming mug of coffee. The mug displayed a photo of a smiling girl in a cowboy hat and _Happy 10_ _th_ _birthday Luisa!_ etched across it. He raised an eyebrow

Lucas shrugged and bit into a cheese sandwich.

Adrian sighed and sipped from the mug. He acted annoyed but Lucas could tell that he liked the coffee.

Three sandwiches later, Adrian finally spoke. “No, I don’t think they were human.”

Lucas swallowed. “So were they posing as humans? For how long and why?”

“I have no idea. I thought I was the only one doing that.”

“And more importantly, how and why did they die?”

Adrian pursed his lips. “Sustenance withdrawal.” He pulled out a notebook and began taking notes. “There were no signs of struggle in the environment, so it was probably not due to physical trauma. But if they died of Sustenance withdrawal, why were they still at work? Why were they going about their daily lives instead of looking for Sustenance?”

“Maybe they didn’t know they weren’t human?”

Adrian’s eyes widened.

“That was a dumb idea,” Lucas shook his head.

“No, you may be on to something,” he said and squeezed Lucas’ shoulder. Lucas absentmindedly reached for his hand and squeezed it back.

Adrian stiffened, retreated to his coffee, and stared out the window. “We’ll comb through the town and look for anything suspicious,” he said resolutely. “This may provide clues to Jose’s upcoming plans.”

Lucas nodded, still feeling the ghost of Adrian’s hand on him. They watched the sky, and the clouds above thinned into a grey overcast that spread across the horizon. It obscured the sun and gave the view a certain timeless quality to it, as if they were in limbo. Lucas wished that were the case, that time would cease and by some trick of multidimensional physics, they’d be on this journey forever and never reach its end.

But Cybersix needed to, and that’s what mattered.

“I think I understand now why you need to end this,” Lucas said, waving vaguely towards the town. “Ending the legacy of Von Reichter and all.”

Adrian looked up.

“It’s your siblings, isn’t it?” Lucas tentatively met his gaze. “You feel guilty for not having saved them, and that’s why you do everything in your power to keep Von Reichter and Jose from harming anyone else. So it won’t happen again.”

Adrian leaned back in the chair. “But it did.”

“You didn’t know.”

Adrian didn’t say anything.

Lucas took a deep breath. “I still don’t think it’s your responsibility, but I get it now. You want a normal life, but protecting everyone from him is your reason for living.”

He paused to look at Adrian, who remained still and unreadable. Lucas mustered his courage and continued. “Because when you end him, you can finally forgive yourself for having lived.”

There was a pause. A tear escaped from Adrian’s eye. Lucas froze, it wasn’t the reaction he had expected. He held his breath and waited for Adrian to speak.

“Do you know what I’ll regret the most?” Adrian whispered.

“What?”

“Not finishing more books.”

Lucas was stumped.

“I’m serious,” Adrian chuckled. “I would have read faster if I knew I’d die soon. And the awful thing is I’m at a boring essay in this Borges anthology, but I feel obliged to finish it since it’s the last book I’ll ever read.”

Lucas relaxed. “Doesn’t that mean that you should be skipping to the good stuff?”

“There must be a reason why the essay is here, and I won’t find out unless I read it.”

“I hope it’s worth it. Borges works in mysterious ways,” Lucas grinned.

Adrian grinned back. It was beautiful.

Lucas cleared his throat. “So, you ready to go out there?”

The smile remained. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after [Cities In Dust by Siouxsie and the Banshees](https://youtu.be/wsOHvP1XnRg).
> 
> Sorry for the late update! I have a full schedule thanks to Adulting so I basically can only work on this right before bed. Anyway, hopefully the next update will be up early May at the latest. I appreciate any feedback, comments, or nitpicks on grammar and things :) I'm curious to hear where you think this fic will lead!


	8. Never Let Me Down Again

****Jose grumbled in his seat, waiting for the Fixed Idea maid to finish cutting his toenails. He couldn’t even see her through the head of hair that now obscured his view, as his hair decided to grow like a weed overnight. He didn’t realize how uncomfortable and annoying the growth process was, especially at such an accelerated rate. His leg hair itched and he fidgeted in his seat.

“I can shave your legs again,” she offered.

“Later!” he snapped.

“Or how about a haircut?”

Jose glanced at himself in the bathroom mirror. He could hardly recognize himself. The person in the mirror was a skinny young man, probably in his early twenties, wearing nothing but a black velvet bathrobe and looked like he hadn’t gotten a haircut in a decade. He looked like an extra out of a budget vampire flick, if only the robe didn’t inconveniently fall open to expose a hairy leg.

“Fix it, but keep it on the long side,” he decided. “It’s stupid cold here anyway. I’ll have another haircut when I return to Meridiana.”

The Fixed Idea nodded and proceeded to cut his hair. He closed his eyes and became lost in thought.

The morning had been a clusterfuck. Road conditions were poor. An extra layer of ice had frozen overnight, but the trucks were dispatched for their usual delivery anyway. They took the risk because it was essential to deliver the goods was timely as possible, and any delay could cause withdrawal effects in their intended recipients.

The trucks skidded in the ice and one fell over, its contents spilling out like guts from a slashed abdomen. It was equally a bitch to clean up. The Techno driver was knocked out and had to be taken to the infirmary. Before other trucks followed suit, Jose intervened and demanded that all trucks were to wait until noon. Perhaps by then, the sun could melt the ice. 

“What do you think, boss?” the maid chirped.

Jose opened his eyes. His messy dark hair was now neat and draped over his bony shoulders. The long fringe at the front covered his left eye completely, but he didn’t mind since one eye was more than enough for glaring at people. He still looked like he came out of a budget vampire flick, but now at least he looked like the lead.

“Not bad,” he grinned. “I’ll double your supply of Sustenance this week.”

The Fixed Idea bowed and tearfully gave her thanks. He waved her off and strolled barefoot into the dining area. The long table could seat twenty people, but there had always been just Father and him, sitting at opposite ends. To his disappointment, the table was empty other than a basket of bread. He sat down in Father’s old spot and crossed his arms.

“Hurry up with my goddamn lunch!” he yelled at a Fixed Idea server lumbering past, and proceeded to wolf down a thousand calories worth of bread rolls. The new caloric requirements of his rapidly changing body were insane. If he didn’t keep up, the transformation process would digest more muscle than he could bear to lose.

A plate of five steaks arrived, accompanied by a mountain of fries.

“Fucking finally,” he said and proceeded to tear into a steak. They were rare and bloody, just the way he liked it.

Someone entered the room and sat a mere three chairs away from him. He knew it was Miguel even without looking up—no one else dared sit at the table. “What?” Jose snapped.

“I like the new look, boss.”

“Cut the crap. Is it about the trucks?” Jose growled with his mouth full. “Or is it the dinosaur?”

Miguel cleared his throat. “There is significant progress with the Tyrannosaurus. Substitutes for the missing bones were found, and so the skeletal structure was assembled successfully. Its musculoskeletal system and organs are growing back as we speak.”

“Hell yeah!” Jose pumped his fist into the air and slammed it on the table. The plates clattered. “I’ve been waiting forever since the goddamn bones went on a world tour. Stupid museums. You’re _sure_ that the bones have been assembled correctly this time?”

“Yes, according to the human paleontologist in our custody.”

“Good,” Jose grinned. “Keep him around just in case there’s anything else useful that we can squeeze out of him, even if it’s just his organs. No one can connect us to the bones’ disappearance, correct?”

“No. The palaeontologist is the only surviving witness.”

“Awesome. I like it when you fools don’t fuck up,” he said between bites. “I’ll increase the weekly supply of Sustenance for you and anyone else involved in the project.”

Jose sliced away at his steak in silence, expecting some praise from the Techno. But when he looked up, the Techno still looked glum.

Jose looked at him. “What are you not telling me?”

Miguel swallowed. “The infirmary is at maximum capacity, forty-seven units are admitted for Sustenance withdrawal, and the Fixed Ideas are the hardest hit. Some teams are stretched thinly due to the loss of manpower, and other teams also have been operating at a lower capacity due to the lack of Sustenance allotted for their members. Because of this, I would suggest looking into re-evaluating the metrics for Sustenance distribution.”

Jose finished his meal and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t see the problem.”

“This is not sustainable.” The Techno ran his fingers through his short-cropped hair.

“That’s the point,” Jose shrugged and toyed with the vial that hung from his neck. “Father’s original intention was to design a race superior to those of humans, but somehow we ended up with degenerates instead. So I’m eliminating them.”

Miguel clenched and unclenched his jaw. Jose noted with satisfaction that the Techno was still visibly bruised from yesterday.

Jose continued, “Our production facilities are better used for extending our reach instead of maintaining our worst performers. If the Sustenance shortage kills half the units, I’m sure that the same amount of work would be done anyway.”

Jose stood up and the Techno rose with him. Fixed Idea servers began to clear the table.

“We are not increasing Sustenance production until we take back Meridiana,” Jose declared.

Miguel frowned. Ignoring him, Jose left the dining area to enter the elevator, but the Techno followed. Jose pressed the button for Basement Two, to the main laboratory, and the elevator began its descent.

“Just in case the dinosaur won’t be fully developed by the time the Cyber arrives, what are good ways to kill her?” Jose asked casually, looking down at the Techno. He noticed that the Techno only reached his chest now, though he still wanted to be taller. “Could we brainwash that pet panther again? Equip it with metal teeth? Not the deadliest thing, but the look on her face should be fun.”

“The Fixed Ideas refuse to go anywhere near it after it mauled them. One of them didn’t survive.” The Techno hung his head.

Jose examined his fingernails.

The elevator doors opened with a _ding_. Jose strode down the poorly lit hallway, not minding walking barefoot on the concrete floor. He thrust his hands in the pockets of his black bathrobe, and Miguel trailed behind him like a dog. They walked past rows of metal doors that only locked from the outside, and partially muffled the voices of the subjects stored within.

“What about the mechanical animals?” Jose continued. “The giant robot octopus was very close to crushing her to death.”

“Too energy-intensive. Either you risk a power outage or she will find a way to disconnect it from its power source.”

A shriek came out of a room and Miguel jumped.

Jose paid it no mind and kept walking. He also ignored the noisy chainsaw sounds. “What happened to the last batch of monsters?”

“T-they were relocated to Meridiana prior to the explosion,” Miguel stammered. “Some traces were found mixed with Master’s remains.”

Jose scowled. “So if the Cyber arrives tomorrow, we only have our regular goons and some leftover weapons? That would fuck up the human real good, but I still want to make a show out of her before she realizes that she has already lost everything.”

“She is travelling with an injured human. They won’t drive up the main road to avoid visibility. If they take the back route, it would take another day, and the Tyrannosaurus should be ready by then.”

“Okay, so _maybe_ a dinosaur,” Jose stopped walking and crossed his arms. “Let’s work backwards. Knowing the sneaky bitch, how would she take down a dinosaur? Teach it the power of love or some shit?”

Miguel shook his head. “I am unsure. But is it necessary to destroy her? Given that Master had destroyed all prior records of the Cyber series, perhaps there is value in gathering data from a live subject?”

He squinted at the Techno. “Why? What’s in it for you?”

The Techno’s eyes widened. “Nothing at all, boss. It appears to be aligned with your goal of improving the genetic material of our units.”

Jose stared at him. He swore that the fucker was plotting against him. Maybe the Techno wanted to keep the Cyber alive so she could oust Jose. But if he disposed of his best man, who could he rely on?

“You have a point,” Jose feigned concession. “Capturing her alive is not the priority. But if it is possible, then Father’s work on her won’t go to waste. But the moment she becomes too much trouble, she disintegrates.”

“That sounds sensible,” Miguel said with a straight face.

Jose placed his hand on the wall sensor, and the double doors to the main laboratory opened. Some lights turned on automatically, but he didn’t know where the switches were for the rest. Father was not good at updating the facilities if it did not directly relate to his research activities, so the laboratory remained in perpetual darkness.

“It took humans a little over a hundred thousand years to breed wolves into usable domesticated dogs,” Jose said as he made his way towards an empty vat large enough to house a Fixed Idea. He stared at his reflection on its surface. “With Father’s intellect and technology, it took him fifty years to breed the Cybers, Technos, and Fixed Ideas. Imagine what we could do to the human race when we can finally take charge of their development. They’ve been breeding uncontrollably since their existence—so no wonder why they’ve devolved into such substandard mutts.”

Miguel said nothing.

“The culling here is just the beginning. After all, how could my larger goals be credible if we didn’t get our own shit together? ” He pressed the controls on the vat, and it the glass began to warm nicely. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Humans are just the beginning. Eventually everything on this earth will be examined and evaluated, and all organisms must prove themselves worthy. Or else,” he snapped his fingers.

“So why that village?” Miguel blurted out.

Jose spun on his heels. “What do you mean, why?”

“How was that village unworthy?”

“It was a test site,” Jose shrugged. “We needed to see how a large population could die to withdrawal symptoms.”

“But they never hurt us. They didn’t even know we existed, nor did they know what they were withdrawing from.”

Jose raised an eyebrow. Why was Miguel talking like the Cyber? “It’s nothing personal. They were expendable.”

“They were _humans_.”

Jose stared at the Techno and his jaw tightened. “That was the point. It proves that the Substance works on humans like how Sustenance works on Father’s creations. And human populations could be controlled using the same methods.”

The silence dragged on until Miguel looked away. The Techno spoke in a shaky voice. “Until recently, Master only harmed humans when they were a part of his genetic experiments. He caused death but he also created life tenfold.” He shook his head. “What you’re doing now is different. You take while giving nothing in return.”

Miguel’s somber look was the final stroke. Jose threw his head back and laughed. The Techno’s face twisted up in confusion and Jose doubled over and kept laughing.

“Where did this absurdity come from?” Jose wheezed, out of breath. “Maybe I kicked you too hard in the head.” He wiped tears from his eyes and straightened up. “Life isn’t fair; no one is entitled to life, life is taken away all the time with no rhyme or reason. Humans kill humans, animals kill animals, insects kill insects and so on. Death is a part of natural selection. If they died, they didn’t deserve to live any longer. Life must be earned.”

Miguel’s eyes flashed. “And you believe that you should be the final arbiter?”

Jose grinned widely. “Why the hell not?”

The colour drained from the Techno’s face, and Jose couldn’t help but laugh again. He returned to the controls of the vat. A glass panel slid open; he threw off his robes and entered, then the glass panel slid shut. Growth hormone solution began to flow in rapidly.

“Boss? What are you doing?” Miguel’s eyes widened, and his voice muffled through the plexiglass.

“Improving my body,” Jose chuckled.

“You’ve already reached your goal height—you’re as tall as Master already!”

Jose flashed him a wide grin. “No. I will be taller than Father. I will look down on _everyone_!”

The growth hormone solution rose past Jose’s chin, thick like syrup with ten times the concentration of the active ingredient. It entered his mouth, his lungs, and even his eyeball sockets. It burned, but it felt so good.

Miguel stared in horror. The thick solution distorted the Techno’s face and made him look even stupider.

And Jose couldn’t stop laughing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after[ Never Let Me Down Again by Depeche Mode](https://youtu.be/snILjFUkk_A) because I am a new wave shill. 
> 
> 3 months later, new chapter! Hey hey! Just ignore me when I make publishing date estimates, okay? Thanks again to my betas: ipv4, insertimaginativenamehere, and Anna Smith. Feedback and comments are welcome as usual.
> 
> I also went back to all the previous chapters and posted Youtube links to all the songs the chapters are named after. Consider it as soundtrack-like bonus content. Hope you still enjoy the fic even if you don't like my music taste, haha!


	9. Are 'Friends' Electric?

They were only in the village for less than two hours, but it felt much longer.

They drove back to the main highway. Lucas had never driven this far south before, but as long as the ocean was generally on his left side he knew that they in the right direction. Adrian continued reading the second-hand Borges book and Lucas made do with listening to the _Pop Hits #23_ cassette tape _._ Somehow after the tension dissolved away, the 80s synth-pop became more tolerable to listen to.

— _but are `friends' electric? Only mine's broke down, and now I’ve no one to love_ —

The sun began to set over the ocean.

“How long have we been on the road?” Lucas asked.

Adrian flipped a page. “Almost two days.”

“Huh. It feels longer.”

“Yeah,” Adrian paused. “I know.”

Lucas knew that the end of their journey was rapidly approaching. It was only during this trip, where they’d been unmoored from their daily concerns and the roles, that Lucas sensed how their uncertain fates had merged into one. Like a man close to death, the hesitation and dread that lingered in the pit of his stomach began to dissolve. Instead, he accepted the present because it was all they had.

The setting sun scattered colours across the blue horizon and cast Adrian’s features in a warm glow. The scene made him nostalgic.

Lucas gave him a gentle nudge. “Hey. Does this remind you of anything?”

Adrian looked up and glanced around. “Not really,” he replied sheepishly.

He grinned. “C’mon. You’ve been there a thousand times.”

He looked at the ocean and then at Lucas. “You mean, the waterfront in Meridiana?”

“Yep.”

Adrian sat up and closed his book. “Of course. We watched the sunset there at least once a week.”

“So you do look up from your book once in a while,” he teased.

Adrian pretended to look hurt. “Hey! I’ve been fully engaged in our conversations.”

“Sure. So what did I say about the Fermi paradox?”

He furrowed his brows. “Is that something about aliens? If the odds are high that they exist, then why hasn’t Earth heard from them?”

“Yep.”

“You said,” Adrian bit his lip, “that aliens already have contacted Earth, but humans are too dumb to realize it.”

Lucas chuckled, “Close, but actually I’ve never talked about it.”

Adrian made a sour face at him.

“I’m glad that you know that much though,” he grinned and ruffled Adrian’s hair. “Your breadth of knowledge is usually limited to dead white men.”

“For your information, Fermi died in the 1950s.”

“But aliens still live on.”

“Alien conspiracy theories do little to answer critical questions about the human condition,” his friend huffed, but still smiled.

“But graduates in the sciences are more successful at finding jobs and maintaining _their_ human condition. Humanities graduates can only become teachers like you to perpetuate the navel-gazing cycle of pointlessness.”

Adrian’s eyes widened.

 _Oh shit_.

His friend raised the Borges volume and hit Lucas’ thigh. “You dare insult our national hero,” he hissed. “You’re lucky this isn’t a hardcover.” He whacked Lucas a few more times.

Lucas winced and rubbed his leg, but he had no regrets. He scoffed, “Borges is not my national hero. He said that ‘Soccer is popular because stupidity is popular’. That’s unforgivable.”

Adrian leaned back in his seat. “He doesn’t like fanatics and mass movements. You can’t blame him, he lived through Nazis and fascism. Literature and the humanities, not science, is what allows us to make sense of the human experience.”

“But Nazi science, not literature, made _you_ possible.”

Adrian turned pale.

Lucas immediately wanted to kick himself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine.”

“—you’re not just an incredibly successful Nazi science experiment—”

“I said it’s _fine_ ,” Adrian removed his glasses and flung them on the dashboard.

Lucas sighed and focused on the road ahead. So much for making most of the present.

Adrian pinched his nose. “I guess it serves me right for starting pointless debates for no reason.”

Lucas glanced at him and softened. “I like pointless debates with you. You’re smart and you explain perspectives I wouldn’t have thought of .”

“But it _is_ pointless in the end,” his voice trembled, his eyes downcast. “No matter how much of humanity I try to understand, it would never make me human. I still don’t belong.”

Lucas pulled over at the next shoulder and turned on the hazard lights.

Adrian sat up, alert. “What’s happening?”

He lifted Adrian’s chin. “Don’t talk like that, okay?”

“Like what?”

“As if you’re an abomination. You’ve been through things no one else has, but you’re still a person. And you’re the most important person to me.”

Lucas could see the storm of emotions in Adrian’s dark eyes. He saw loneliness, despair, and self-disgust, but he also saw warmth.

And maybe even love.

Suddenly aware of their intimacy, Lucas jerked his hand back, but Adrian took it held it against his chest. He could feel his friend’s heartbeat against his fingers, slow but strong.

“Thank you,” Adrian breathed. “I can’t say I fully agree, but you’re important to me too.” He raised Lucas’ hand to his soft lips and planted a chaste kiss. 

Without the eyeglasses, Lucas felt like he was gazing into Cybersix’ eyes. He became short of breath and stammered something he immediately forgot.

Adrian looked amused. “Still tongue-tied around Cybersix?”

“A little,” Lucas gulped, his mouth dry.

“It’s cute. You should’ve kissed her earlier.” He cleaned his eyeglasses and put them back on with a sly smile.

He looked away and mumbled, “But I liked Adrian too. It was hard to decide.” 

“Good thing you don’t have to,” Adrian whispered and leaned over, one hand on Lucas’ thigh. He pecked him on the cheek, where stubble met the corner of his lip, and that part of his skin felt like it was on fire.

Adrian pulled back, his fingers trailing across Lucas’ leg. He was glad that they were parked because he felt lightheaded.

Lucas felt heat rise to his face. “This is really nice, but you’re confusing me here.”

His friend sighed and slouched in his chair. “I’m confused as well. It’s like all our years together are coming to a head, and our disagreements were used to disguise the tension between us. Since there are no more secrets, what now?”

“All of that was tension, huh? Glad you admit it,” he grinned.

Adrian cocked his head. “Well, you got a kiss. And this car isn’t going to drive itself.”

Lucas rolled his eyes and moved the gearshift to drive.

* * *

After some naps and meals on the road, they finally decided to call it a night. They pulled into a port town that was definitely more touristy than any other place they had encountered so far.

Since it was after six, most of the shops had already closed. It was quiet, and black frost glittered on the pavement like crystals. Kitschy tourist attractions littered the town. A replica of a Spanish galleon was chained to the port, and a sign indicated that boarding it after hours was prohibited.

Adrian squinted at the sign from inside the car. “Magellan was stranded in this harbour. He and his men had to wait out the winter here.”

“So what’s our plan?” Lucas asked, rubbing his sore neck. His body hurt all over; all this driving was terrible for his back.

“Find accommodations. Then we’ll talk.”

Adrian seemed to be intent on burning through whatever money he had left. He chose a rustic lodge at the edge of town, the type where tourists supposedly went to have a taste of rustic life without actually being out in the field. Lucas didn’t think that extra furniture, woven textiles, wooden planks, and framed pictures of sheep deserved three times the price, but he was too tired to care.

Lucas collapsed on a rustic lounge chair. “Okay. Talk to me while I’m still conscious.”

He pulled up a chair across from Lucas, and their knees bumped into each other. Adrian leaned in and began to unravel Lucas’ bandages. His arms were healing, but it felt like it was taking too long.

“This is our last night in civilization,” Adrian began. “We sleep and have breakfast, and leave at first light. Then we drive four hours to the southern city. When we arrive—” 

“We have lunch?” Lucas asked hopefully, and watched Adrian work at his bandages. He was wrapping the clean ones now, and Lucas certainly didn’t mind him volunteering to do it. 

“Sure. Then we buy climbing supplies, and take the car on a ferry.” He pulled out a map and handed it to Lucas, and pointed to a channel of water, dotted with white islands. “The ferry will lead us to the cold wasteland where Jose’s Fortress lies, but we’re not taking the main road. Instead, we’ll drive to the back of the mountain, hide the car, and climb a wall of ice to the plateau. We camp there overnight and infiltrate the Fortress on foot.”

“Climb a wall of ice,” he gulped.

“Simple.” Adrian finished changing the bandages. He ran his fingers down Lucas’ arms, as if to admire his own handiwork.

Lucas paused. “Wait, how do Jose and his men truck the Sustenance over?”

“They take a land route, but it requires crossing a border. They’ve bribed the border officers to not look too carefully, but we don’t have that luxury.”

“So we can’t drive to the gates of the big evil Fortress, huh?” Lucas tried to joke.

Adrian’s brows furrowed. “What’s wrong with the plan?”

“I just… feel very mortal.” He glanced at his arms. “You can probably scale a frozen mountain in three jumps, but I certainly cannot.”

Adrian shrugged. “I’ve never climbed up that mountain before. I only climbed down from it—once. It’ll be a first for the both of us.”

“That’s not exactly comparable,” he scratched his head. “It’s just like me, huh? I just follow you blindly and get in over my head.”

Adrian sighed. “Yeah. Now you know.”

Lucas felt somewhat guilty for imposing on Adrian, but the call of sleep was too strong. He yawned, excused himself, and changed out of his clothes. Brushing his teeth could wait for the morning. He sprawled out on a bed, ready to surrender his consciousness for the day.

He drifted into a peaceful slumber. And then it was back.

That creepy castle.

It was the same castle he saw in the village, only this time he could make out more of the details. It was tall and made out of stone, and its design was so anachronistic that it could be from any period in history. But it felt cursed, and his skin crawled.

“Lucas?”

He groaned. Adrian interrupted his sleep again.

“Can I stay with you?”

Lucas managed to nod even if he couldn’t open his eyes. He felt the smaller man crawl beside him, and settled his head against his chest. Then sleep pulled him back into its murky depths.

* * *

The damn castle kept haunting him. But at least he woke up with Adrian beside him.

“Morning.” A kiss was pressed to his forehead.

“I don’t want to leave yet,” he grumbled.

Adrian chuckled as he rolled away. “I didn’t say it was time.”

“Good.” He pulled Adrian’s strong but lithe form against him, and kissed the back of his neck. His cheeks turned pink. It was adorable but Lucas held himself back from taking things too far. It was a miracle that Adrian had become open to this much intimacy to begin with, and he certainly was not going to push his luck.

“How do you feel?” Lucas asked, resting his chin on Adrian’s shoulder. He smelled wonderful.

“Comfortable. And dreading what’s next.”

“At least we’re on the same page,” he sighed.

“Yes. Sorry I took so long.” He drew Lucas’ arm tighter around his waist. They lingered in that companionable silence. Lucas fought off thoughts about what should’ve been and the little time they had left. Instead, he focused on Adrian’s steady breathing, his soft skin, and the miraculous feeling of him in his arms. The way Adrian held his hand, with their fingers intertwined, told him everything he needed to know: Adrian loved him, and always would.

It was both the longest and the shortest hour of his life.

The rest of the morning was lost in a whirl. At least the winter gave them more daylight hours to work with—the sunset was projected to be at around 8 o’clock at night. At least they made it to the southern city earlier than expected, and had some time after an early lunch to look at whatever the heck they needed to scale up a wall of ice.

The city was filled with tourists bundled up in puffy jackets, ski masks, and balaclavas. They carried tools that Lucas didn’t know the names of. Feeling like a complete fool in his trench coat, Lucas had no idea what to look for in an outdoor gear shop. He always had been a city boy, and his young athletic years were spent in sweaty underground boxing gyms. The only thing he was sure of was the high price mark ups to fleece underprepared climbers, which was what they were.

Adrian eyed a pair of what appeared to be metal feet clamps, complete with sharp teeth. They looked like a cross between soccer cleats and a torture device.

“What are those?” Adrian asked a sales clerk.

“Crampons. They’re for ice climbing.”

Adrian pulled out a wad of cash. “I’ll take two pairs.”

That was how they walked out of that single shop with equipment that cost a month’s salary: hiking bags, a winter tent, appropriate clothes, dried food, and other supplies.

Lucas’ brain must’ve disassociated from his body because before he knew it, he found himself sitting at the bow of a ferry. They were rushing forward in a maze of water, islands, and blue mountains; cold winds howled and nipped at the exposed tips of his ears. Tourists swarmed the balcony and cooed at the penguins waddling along a distant shoreline.

And he was ready to throw up.

Adrian handed him a plastic-lined paper bag and a napkin. He took it and puked out his lunch.

“I told you not to eat so much,” his friend chided.

“When else could I stress-eat Patagonian lamb?”

He got a shrug in response.

Lucas excused himself to the bathroom to clean up. After brushing out the taste of vomit, the swaying motions of the waves continued to make him nauseous. He made it out to the hallway before the room spun.

He felt strong hands catch him.

“Are you sick?” Adrian asked.

“I can’t remember the last time I was on a boat,” he coughed. “Or maybe it’s something else.”

Adrian frowned and wrapped Lucas’ arm around him, and took careful steps back up to the balcony. He admired Adrian’s strength. A regular person with his slender frame wouldn’t be able to haul Lucas’ ass anywhere.

Lucas knew they made it when he felt the biting winds on his exposed skin. He sat back down on the bench with a sigh.

Adrian rubbed his shoulders. “Feel better?”

Lucas buried his face in his hands. “I don’t know. Talk to me. Distract me.”

“What do you know about this place?”

“It’s cold. The glaciers are shrinking, and the ozone layer in the South Pole poses risks to the biodiversity of this area. Fossils found here prove a link between the Australian and South American landmasses. That’s about it.”

Adrian laughed. “Of course. Spoken like a true biology teacher. But do you know anything about the history of this channel?”

He shook his head.

“For a time, it was thought to be the only safe passage between the Atlantic and Pacific. Magellan and his crew should’ve died here: storms, a shipwreck, mutinies. Navigation was also difficult. They couldn’t tell which islands they could go around or which ones led to a dead end.”

“Shipwrecks,” Lucas gulped.

“But they didn’t die. At least not all of them.”

“So how did they die?”

“They reached Asia. Magellan was speared to death by the natives they attempted to colonize.” Adrian fixed his glasses. “Funny to think what would’ve happened if their journey ended here.”

His companion seemed oddly relaxed.

“Do you like this place?” Lucas asked.

“I didn’t realize it, but I guess I do miss it.” Adrian took a deep breath. “The air feels so crisp and clean. And the chill makes me feel awake and alive.”

Lucas shivered. But somehow, it made perfect sense. Adrian’s otherworldly beauty fit in with the rest of the haunting, stark landscape of frigid grey waters and unexplored icy peaks. It felt grand and untouched; a mere mortal such as him could only skim the surface but not truly know all of its secrets.

His head hurt and he grew weak. His vision blurred.

“You are not doing okay,” he heard Adrian’s worried voice.

“I’ll try to ride it out,” he said, feeling disconnected from his body. His palms felt clammy.

“Are your teeth aching?”

“No? Should they be?”

“Growing, perhaps?”

“Maybe you’re not doing so hot either,” he coughed.

Adrian turned away and defensively mumbled something about werewolves. Or maybe Lucas just didn’t hear him properly.

Somewhat delirious, Lucas rested his head against Adrian’s shoulder. His companion mumbled a protest but didn’t seem to mind, and even pulled him closer. They held each other until the ferry came to a stop.

And before them was a towering mountain of pure granite. Adrian looked up to the peak, his expression unreadable.

“Welcome home,” Adrian whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after [Are ‘Friends’ Electric by Gary Numan](https://youtu.be/AweJWo8_WFs).


End file.
